The Predator's Web

Read more: child safety, child predators, pedophiles, online dangers, child abuse

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Child predators find safe haven and support online.

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Most parents certainly have an awareness of the threats of children being online, where they can easily fall victim of their own naiveté. We may even feel fully informed of the dangers that lurk within the bandwidth, as shows like “To Catch a Predator” gain popularity and stories of internet predators become common place within the news wires. But these stories only scratch the surface -- parents might be surprised to learn that pedophiles, in their desperate attempts to be close to children and prey on their vulnerability, are using the anonymity of the internet to organize themselves in a united front and are now attempting to infiltrate parenting sites and blogs. They cloak and misrepresent themselves in order to gain trust so that they can plead their cases in effort to influence society's reaction to child molestation; their goal is to normalize and mainstream pedophilia. Although presumably a civilized society would never accept such behavior as status quo, pedophiles honestly believe that they are doing nothing wrong and that it all boils down to societal perceptions.

They frequently post on various non-related sites, pretending to be parents themselves or “experts” (always with a arsenal of flawed statistics), lawyers, or very commonly, victims of sexual abuse. The child abuse survivor persona is the one that is the most insulting -- their common story is that their view was changed when they realized they enjoyed the abuse, and that it felt natural to them. It is unclear whether their stories are true or not (many pedophiles have indeed been sexually molested as children), but if so it is generally thought that their survival mechanism caused this kind of brain damage in which the cycle of abuse continues because they cannot bear the shame and lack the skills to separate themselves from the wrongdoing. In other cases, their only motive is to try to normalize the behavior through repetitive brainwashing. They have studied up on these techniques, which they also use on young children. Most also believe that they are simply misunderstood and harmless and that the desire to have sex with small children is only frowned upon by intolerant people and bigots.

Although pedophiles are easily outwitted by the courageous barrage of volunteers who scour the internet for both overt and stealth attempts of pedophiles to normalize, rationalize and further victimize children, the experience to spot one may not be developed by the unsuspecting individual or parent who might easily be tricked into giving an anonymous commenter the benefit of the doubt.

There is a large network of pedophiles on the web, where they exchange photos of children taken with telephoto lenses that include details such as the time and place to view that child. They may give out information about your child’s schedule and where and when they might be walking home from school. As we go on with our mundane errands, kids in tow and looming homework to tackle, pedophiles are scouring the internet and driving down streets, taking dogs for walks, parking in front of schools, visiting public bathrooms, all in an effort to victimize children. It’s a fact of life that is so frightening, so disturbing to think about, that most parents don’t want to address the issue head on. These predators are counting on that fact. You can imagine the horror, the outrage, the violation that parents would feel if they stumbled upon their child’s photo on some boy- or girl-love site.

According to a study by the New York Times, the online pedophile community's outreach is even more sophisticated that most people thought, including "Internet radio stations run by and for pedophiles; a putative charity that raised money to send Eastern European children to a camp where they were apparently visited by pedophiles; and an online jewelry company that markets pendants proclaiming the wearer as being sexually attracted to children, allowing anyone in the know to recognize them."

Pedophiles rely heavily on these support groups, which are formed according to a particular predator’s tastes, such as sites devoted to men that like prepubescent boys or toddler girls. It’s a place where they can exchange stories about their lust for children and encourage each other’s dark, indecent and criminal desires. They have organized to the point where they have come up with a common goal within various internet communities – to make themselves out to be the victims, with parents and law enforcement as the villains. It's reasoning almost impossible for most of us to fully understand -- these pedophiles are delusional to the point where they believe that babies, toddlers and small children are born sexual beings that enjoy and aspire to have sex with adults. Not only do they enjoy it, pedophiles think, they proactively seek it out. They believe that children as young as infants flirt with them and find the most innocuous child-play a form of seductive manipulation. They truly believe small children, when swinging or playing hopscotch at the playground is really engaged in a sexual frolic; a signal to other pedophiles that they want to have sex with them. They see a baby crying as coy, sexual flirtation. It is a gross defect of monumental proportions, one without emotional or intellectual boundaries. It’s a classic case of “blame the victim”, but these victims cannot even fight or defend themselves.

Next: "It's not just a perversion, it's an obsession"

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