Fighting Internet Crimes Against Children through Community Education
The statistics are simply staggering.
- One in five kids ages 10-17 receive unwanted online solicitations, according to research from the US Department of Justice.
- Most occur on social networking sites and 1 in 33 receive an aggressive sexual solicitation.
- One in six youth surveyed shared a nude image online (between ages of nine and 17).
What’s more alarming is between 50-70% of the online predators have physically assaulted a child in the past.
“This abuse isn’t even under our noses – many parents miss it because we don’t know what to look for,” explains Lt. Eric Kinsman, Commander of the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, speaking to more than two dozen parents inside the high school auditorium in Exeter, New Hampshire.
The parents attended to learn how to keep their kids safe online. While community education is a requirement for Lt. Eric Kinsman to keep federal funding, it’s the part of the job he enjoys most. He talks to both parents and students with age-appropriate presentations and views it as a key preventative measure in hopes kids will think twice before uploading a picture or inadvertently chatting with a bad actor.
A Problematic Increase
Kinsman explains that since 2018, there’s been a 275% increase in child exploitation cyber tips. Some silver lining is that about half of the cases end up not being a child in danger. Still, New Hampshire is serving two to three search warrants a week on criminals targeting children.
“We got why it happened during the pandemic – with kids constantly online, but why it didn’t drop off was really puzzling,” said Lt. Kinsman. “Then we considered that more and more apps are being developed every day and more and more kids have access to a device. Kids are even creating their own explicit content and uploading it – they think it’s funny or cool and do not realize what they’re doing.”
Lt. Kinsman explained how data is transferred between devices and how internet service providers are required to report. Those reports go to NCMEC, through its CyberTipline, which ultimately sends it to law enforcement. From there, Lt. Kinsman’s team employs digital investigative technology, including Cellebrite, to help them find the perpetrators.
A Long History of Protecting Children
New Hampshire led the way, creating the first Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. There are now 61 across the United States with every state having one and geographically larger states breaking into several regions. The task forces are funded through grants from the federal government and provide law enforcement training, proactive investigations, reactive investigations, training to ICAC investigators and community outreach and education, like the event Lt. Kinsman created in Exeter, NH.
Lt. Kinsman educated parents on the types of ICAC cases including possession and distribution and the more complicated cases of manufacturing the material and worst of all traveling cases where the child is groomed and lured. Lt. Kinsman then outlined the 10 Common Predator Tactics:
- Prey on a young person’s desire for romance, adventure and sexual information
- Develop trust and secrecy: Manipulate the child by listening to and sympathizing with the child’s problems and insecurities
- Affirm the child’s feelings and voices
- Exploit the child’s natural sexual curiosities
- Ease inhibitions by gradually introducing sex into conversations or exposing them to pornography
- Flatter and compliment the child excessively, send gifts (i.e. electronic currency on gaming apps, gift cards) and invest time, money and energy
- Develop relationship that’s romantic, controlling which the child becomes dependent
- Drive a wedge between the child and his or her parents
- Make promises of an exciting, stress-free life, tailored to the youth’s desire
- Make threats and will often use child sexual abuse material featuring the victim to blackmail them, also known as sextortion
A helpful companion
Niko, the NH ICAC K9, doubles as an agent and a therapy dog. Not only can he sniff out any device with stored data, due to a particular chemical he’s trained to detect, he also serves as a friendly companion to the investigators who must mentally deal with investigating these cases. The five-year-old half-lab, half-golden retriever is partnered with Deputy Matt Fleming.
The pair have been working together since May 2020. “He can find any device that stores or transmits data – that’s big,” Deputy Fleming said. “We want to find everything we can and get it to the hands of the digital forensics people and let them work their magic.” In addition, Niko is a loving, secure reassurance for kids dealing with these unthinkable situations. “He’s (Niko) been involved in over 250 warrants since we’ve had him,” Lt. Kinsman said. “And he’s made an impact at every single one in some way, shape or form.”
Deputy Fleming calls Niko a game changer for the NH ICAC Task Force and says that this four-legged officer is the best partner he’s ever had. “Our days are tough,” he explained, “we see a lot of really hard things to accept. I have done probably lifetime, over 200 child predator interviews before I took Niko on. And I tell a lot of investigators that my cup was full and I wasn’t done fighting yet, but I needed to figure another way out. And I’m not a digital forensics guy. I think that in a lot of ways this dog saved my life, not just kids’ lives.”
Kids and Apps
Something Lt. Kinsman stresses when he talks with kids and parents is that once an image is posted online – you cannot take it back.
“The App should not matter if your child is making good decisions when it comes to social media,” Lt. Kinsman says. “Yet we don’t want them to have a false sense of security. Particularly when apps have messages that disappear on the other end, the child must know that information can live on.”
Lt. Kinsman flagged an App known as Spy Calc, which operates like a normal calculator, yet you can hide messages and images in there – a virtual vault. YouTube, along with Roblox is a popular source for cyber tips, particularly with younger boys. Younger boys enjoy going on YouTube and broadcasting themselves playing a game. That child now has a channel where he is chatting with his viewers.
“Predators are known to disguise themselves as another child and they’re looking to get pieces of information from the child they can use to exploit the child at a later time. When do Mom and Dad go to work? When are they going on vacation? When are you staying with Grandma next week?” Lt. Kinsman explains. “The predator then identifies Mom and Dad on Facebook and look into a family’s life. These predators are incredible at their trade craft.”
The New Normal
76% of teens are at least somewhat concerned that posting information publicly could negatively impact future – so why do they do it? There’s a reward that they could be recognized among peers and sometimes, and oftentimes that wins out in their risk/reward assessment.
Lt. Kinsman encouraged parents in attendance – many of them GenX or elder Millennials – to consider the new normal, where:
- Online strangers are “friends”
- Kids don’t want to lose online friends (constantly comparing #s)
- They get major FOMO (fear of missing out)
- Feelings of inadequacy
- Screentime (time vs. quality)
- Stress (comparing their post to a friend’s post)
In this lens, it’s easy to see how kids, particularly teens who are seeking connection, go from a simple introduction to being exploited. How it works:
- They accept friend requests from people they don’t know
- The predators groom them over time (often from countries a world away)
- “I promise I won’t show anyone”
- “I’ll send one if you do.”
- They send because it’s funny, to impress or to share with a boyfriend- sadly, it’s the norm
The Big Red Flags
Lt. Kinsman wanted to arm parents with information and that includes being able to identify red flags that something may be off, such as:
- Receiving gifts
- Calling unknown numbers
- Rejecting family and friends
- Getting upset when not online
If there’s a deviation in any baseline of normal behavior, he strongly encouraged parents to act on it. Kids are generally afraid to tell their parents, so encouraging an open dialogue is critical – explaining that they can approach you with anything. Data shows that increased parental control is associated with more (and not fewer) online risks. The messages that DO NOT WORK, include:
- Scare tactics
- Stereotypes
- Overstated statistics
- Dismissive perspectives
- Shaming
- Banning of specific sites
Data shows the messages THAT DO WORK with kids include:
- Clear, reasonable expectations
- Positive social norms
- Use good stats about good behaviors
- Accurate and timely information
- Skill-based and interactive
- Positive, supportive conversations – here are some conversation starters:
- What do you like to do online?
- Are your contacts with others positive?
- Do they make you feel happy?
- Do you ever feel isolated?
- Does anything ever scare you?
What to do if Your Child is Exploited
If your child is exploited – leave the phone as it is – do not touch a single file or do anything with the phone – the digital forensics gleaned in the case could hold the bad actor accountable. In a perfect world, place it in airplane mode while you wait to get it in the hands of law enforcement. Cellebrite is proud to partner with and provide technology for countless ICAC task forces, including New Hampshire. The trained, professional examiners can use the technology to extract the important evidence in the case that typically can hold the bad actor accountable.
Lt. Kinsman shared some great resources he points parents toward when they need information and support in having these important conversations. They include: