Alicia Kozakiewicz says children should be taught about the online ‘bogey man’

A WOMAN who was raped by a man she met in a chatroom says kids should know about the dangers of online predators from the time they can use a keyboard.

EXCLUSIVE

CHILDREN should be taught about the “bogey man” of the online world from the moment they can use a keyboard, according to one of the world’s leading online safety advocates and abuse survivors.

Alicia Kozakiewicz was abducted at age 13 and raped, tortured and beaten by a man who she met in a chatroom pretending to be a boy her own age.

On New Year’s Day in 2002 she was kidnapped from just outside her home and driven seven hours across several US states to a basement dungeon where she was dog-collared, chained to the floor and abused.

Her attacker Scott Tyree had been slowly building up a relationship with Ms Kozakiewicz for eight months to gain her trust.

But Ms Kozakiewicz’s innocence was to come crashing down when she discovered the “boy” who had befriended her actually was a 40-year-old sexual predator.

Tyree live-streamed her abuse to other predators leading to the FBI being able to track down his IP address and rescue Ms Kozakiewicz hours before she suspected she was to be murdered.

MORE: Predators who abuse kids, access child porn face tough new laws

Alicia Kozakiewicz, 29, was groomed by an online predator in the US at the age of 14 who was pretending to be a boy her age. Picture: News Corp Australia

Ms Kozakiewicz is in Australia for the first time this week to speak at the Australian Information Security Association national conference and spread her message about online safety.

She said no child or country is immune from these types of attacks and that parents needed to be vigilant when it came to protecting their children in the cyber world.

“We can’t sweep this under the rug. This is a real issue and it’s not just the troubled children it’s all children that can fall prey to these types of people online,” Ms Kozakiewicz said.

She said parents needed to throw the concept of privacy out the window for the cyber world to ensure their kids’ safety.

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“You absolutely have to have all their passwords and it is necessary to pick up your child’s phone or device and go into it and check the apps and social media whenever you please.

“I don’t think any parents are aware enough of what is going on.”

Ms Kozakiewicz said kids should be taught about the dangers of the online world from the time they first access a device — which for some children is as toddlers.

“As soon as their fingers touch the keyboard they should be taught about the dangers of predators in the online world,” she said.

Ms Kozakiewicz says kids need to be taught about online predators as soon as possible. Picture: iStock

“It obviously needs to be done in an age appropriate manner but kids need to know immediately the danger they face. You don’t tell your children after they cross the street that they actually should look both ways.

“The bogey man is real, the villain in the Disney movie is real, the bad guys are out there and sometimes to scare a child is to empower them.”

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said as soon as connected devices were being used by children, parents should discuss online safety.

“The minute you turn your iPad into a digital babysitter is the moment you need to start teaching the digital do’s and dont’s, absolutely,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“Teach them ‘stranger danger online’. That people aren’t always who they say they are online and that they should never, ever meet up with someone they have met online without an adult accompanying them.

Investigators from the eSafety commission are seeing an alarming rise in “very concerning content’. Picture: iStock

Ms Inman Grant said investigators from the eSafety commission were seeing an alarming rise in “very concerning content being coerced from or generated from young people themselves”.

“We call this ‘self- generated child exploitation material’ and this images and videos are being solicited from innocent young children via chat functions and webcams,” she said.

“Predators can then use these photos for the purposes of sextortion- threatening to share the photos if the young person doesn’t give them more and worse, including Contact.

“When our investigators have captured these videos — and sought to have them removed so that they don’t become a permanent part of a child’s digital footprint- they often here voices in the background.

“So, this online sexploitation is taking place in the home, right under the noses of unwitting parents.”

HOW TO KEEP YOUR KIDS SAFE ONLINE

* Talk openly and regularly to your children about online safety

* Have all your kids’ passwords and access to their devices and check them regularly

* Encourage your children to talk to you about what is going on in their life and who they are talking to

* Make sure that your children know they can come to you and tell you something worrying without fear their devices will be taken away

* Educate yourself on the social media and apps your children use so you know how a predator might target them

* Visit esafety.gov.au for more information

Originally published as Alicia Kozakiewicz says children should be taught about the online ‘bogey man’