I am often faced with difficult cases involving minor or teenage children and some type of inappropriate sexual activity. Often times the cases draw media attention as they might involve a teacher, coach, or some other person worthy of the media. The media reports will usually give a brief summary of the relationship between the victim and the suspect. Many times the relationship is seemingly normal, other times it is obvious the relationship has progressed too far. An example of this, in my opinion, is a single male coach taking one of his "kids" to a movie on a Saturday. That is an extreme example, but a real one.

I have heard many parents say they would never allow their kid to get as close to a teacher, coach, etc. as the above described child who was victimized. The problem is our kids live in an ever evolving technical world. The kind of person that victimizes a child or teen usually does it after a period of building trust, often called "grooming." This grooming process is usually well thought out and instrumented by the perpetrator. It sometimes involves, among other processes, lengthy communication with the intended victim more often than not through the Internet or use of the kid’s cell phones.

It is very common to have an entire family using cell phones exclusively and seldom, if ever, use their home phone. Today’s teenagers rely on their Internet and cell phones as a large part of their social life. This is a far cry from my era when the home phone would ring and parents would summon their kids to talk on the kitchen phone, with little or no privacy.