How to keep our kids safe from sextortion predators

Parents of sextortion victims are being urged not to blame their children for falling prey to predators, who win by creating a “wall of secrecy and shame”.

Police have some advice for parents of sextortion victims – don’t blame your children.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Warren Hutchison said adults are being extorted out of hundreds of thousands of dollars every day of the week.

So if adults are being scammed, how do we expect our kids to keep themselves safe?”

“And I think that’s where we’re at and what we need to highlight.

“So don’t be aggressive with your kids. You have to build your relationship with your kids so that they are in a safe space for them to tell you. It’s so important that they understand that you ‘get it’ … even if you don’t.”

‘If adults are being scammed, how do we expect our kids to keep themselves safe?’

The sextortion squad acting top cop said predators win when there is a “wall of secrecy and shame”.

“Your kids aren’t going to come and tell you, ‘Hey, Dad, I just sent a naked image of myself to someone online that I don’t know and now they want 50 bucks out of me.

“There’s not a kid in the world that’s going to do that straightaway, at least.

“And by the time they do come to their parents, it’s three months later, they’re rocking in the corner, their grades have dropped at school and you’re going, ‘what the hell’s happened?’

“And then they start blurting out this whole event that’s been going on and you’re like, ‘How did I not see this happen? How did I not know this.’

“That’s the risk. And that’s the why these images are, once they get one, so successful online.”

He said chances are your teenage son has a dick pic on their phone. Chances are, he’s communicating with people he doesn’t know online.

The world has changed, yet stayed the same, he said.

“The old Playboy magazine has gone, long gone. But now we’ve got the internet. Nothing has changed.

“But what we have is the internet, and everything has changed about how children view the world.

“Having dick pics of yourself on your phone is now the norm.

“Our adult response is just don’t take the picture. But they are doing it. So there needs to be understanding. So when kids come and say, ‘this is what happened’ it shouldn’t be a big shock that your child has these pictures.”

He added: “If you are a friend of a friend, kids today feel as though they know that person.

“And they are communicating with these people, and we, the older person, have to understand that.”

He said in many cases children’s biggest concern is their parents finding out.

“And offenders use that to coerce them into providing whatever they want.”

He said parents should;

– Remove devices from bedrooms overnight

– Use the apps you are allowing your children to use

– Tell their child that if they do send an intimate pic, never ever put your face in it