Protecting Kids From Stalkers on the Internet

Dropping computer prices, flat-fee Internet services and the increasing availability of computers in schools and libraries over recent years has given millions of children access to a valuable educational tool. Unfortunately, it has also made them more accessible to pedophiles, law enforcement officials warn.

Police and prosecutors say they have a hard time pinning down how large the problem of Internet child stalkers has become, but some say they have seen an increase in the number of adults caught using Internet services to approach children for sex.

Police departments are doing more “undercover stings” posing as children on the Internet and waiting to be contacted by pedophiles, authorities say.

Apparently, it is an easy trap.

Alan Yochelson, head of the Sex Crimes, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit at the Van Nuys district attorney’s office, points to the recent case of a man who was arrested after picking up what he thought was a 15-year-old girl on the Internet.

“He made a date to meet this girl and have sex with her, thinking she was 15,” Yochelson said. “But she was an operative for Fox News.”

When Stewart K. Lesansky showed up to meet his date, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested him for attempted lewd acts on a child, Yochelson said. Lesansky pleaded guilty to the charges last year and was sentenced to probation, Yochelson said.

Detective Bill Dworin of the LAPD’s Juvenile Sex Crimes Division, said children who identify themselves as such in their Internet profile are “frequently contacted” by adults and sometimes propositioned. He said pedophiles often identify themselves as children in order to gain the trust of their victims before telling the kids their real ages.

“We tell kids not to talk to strangers, but we give kids a computer and we have no idea who they’re talking to,” Dworin said.

While authorities and Internet services are unable to identify pedophiles before they strike, there are some things parents and children can do to protect themselves. The following tips were provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, available on the center’s Web site (https://www.missingkids.com.)

* Children should never give out identifying information such as their full name, address, telephone number or the name of their school to anyone on the Internet.

* They should never agree to meet in person with someone they’ve met online without parental approval.

* If someone sends a hostile or inappropriate message, kids should not respond but should show those messages to a parent.

Dworin said that often when children are approached by a pedophile, they manage to get rid of the person and neither they nor their parents report the person to police. The detective urged parents instead to report such incidents to help police identify and stop Internet stalkers.

Yochelson said it does not violate state law to contact a child on the Internet or send a suggestive message.

However, a bill presently being considered in the U.S. Senate attempts to crack down on sex crimes against children, particularly when the offender uses the Internet. Among other things, the bill would make it a crime to use the mail or Internet to contact a minor for sex and would double the penalty to 10 years for enticing a minor to cross state lines to engage in sex.