Internet Predator Profile

Internet predators are typically men (although there have been women and couples) that stalk and prey on children on the internet with the intent to meet for sexual exploitation. Internet predators are not limited to a certain age group, education level, income bracket or even race. The one thing they all have in common is the desire to sexually exploit children that they meet on the internet.

Internet predators have a mental illness. These men are consumed with the desire to sexually exploit children. Instant messages and chat rooms are easily accessible to children and extremely user friendly. Places such as MySpace and other free web page groups have made the internet a feeding frenzy for internet predators. AOL chat rooms, Yahoo chat rooms and even virtual gaming sites are also feeding grounds for internet predators.

Many service providers and web hosts are trying to combat the problem by screening users and banning members that have a record or have been caught committing crimes against children. The problem is that users can create new accounts from re-routed ISPs or move to obtain a new ISP. Even though the screening of users has assisted in reducing the problem, the task is too large to make certain areas completely safe guarded from internet predators.

Internet predators carefully select victims. The first objective of the internet predator is to establish that the child has little or no parental supervision on the internet and for leaving the home. Once the internet predator feels that the child is safe to engage, the fantasy of meeting the child in person becomes extremely real to the internet predator. Often these fantasies can turn into actual meetings with minors with the intent to commit sexual exploitation of these innocent children.