James N. Brown, J.D.

Detective - Retired

In See How They Chat – Part 1, I presented an actual online chat that I had with a potential predator during a training session.  The entire conversation lasted only seven minutes.  In that short time, the predator learned that the “child” did not wear panties and liked to swim naked.  He also knew that the “child’s” mother was at work.  Although I was posing as a child, this was a real conversation with a possible predator, who very quickly learned significant information about the “child.”

In this blog, I will present a similar chat that occurred also during a training session.  This chat is a bit longer, approximately 18 minutes, but it illustrates an additional danger of Internet chatting; lewd pictures being sent to a child.  Once again, I use “Predator” in place of the actual screen name and “Child” in place of my undercover name.  The chat is exactly as it occurred.  I have included the times in order to show how quickly the predator moved the conversation along.  There are a few of my comments in parentheses.

[10:46] Predator: hello

[10:46] Child: hi

[10:47] Predator: how are you doing?

[10:47] Child: fine and u

[10:48] Predator: doing fine…downloading some pics at the moment (he has already introduced pictures into the conversation)

[10:49] Child: kewl, u share?????

[10:49] Predator: sure

[10:50] Child: kewl

[10:50] Predator: what you like to see?

[10:51] Predator: girl/guy-pics? or you like girl-pics too? (he has no problem letting the child know he has all kinds of pictures)

[10:52] Child: i like it all

[10:52] Predator: good

[10:53] Predator: do you have a picture of you? (he already wants to know what the child looks like)

[10:56] Predator: you like the pics? (he has sent pornography to the child)

[10:56] Child: kewl pics, was that you? (child is responding to the pornography pictures)

[10:57] Child: no, no camera (child is responding to the question regarding a picture of her)

[10:57] Predator: ok (he is responding to the child not having a camera)

[10:58] Predator: no, I am on different pics (he is responding to the child’s question as to whether he was in the pornographic pictures)

[10:58] Child: kewl

[10:59] Predator: do you have some pics for me?

[10:59] Predator: pics of girls your age?

[10:59] Child: yes please (a bit of confusion here…it happens in chatting…child is politely responding to what she believes is a request to send her more pictures)

[10:59] Predator: do you have them for me? (he has straightened out the confusion by again asking the child for pictures of her or girls her age)

[11:00] Child: no pics

[11:00] Predator: :(

[11:00] Child: ddad doesn’t klet me have any

[11:00] Predator: ok

[11:01] Predator: this is me with a girl…(the photograph showed oral copulation)

[11:02] Child: kewl

[11:03] Predator: have you done this kind of thing?

[11:04] Child: no

[11:04] Predator: what is the most exciting thing you have done? (he is trying really hard to engage the child in a conversation about sex acts)

At this point I terminated the conversation by logging off.  During this 18-minute conversation, the “child” was subjected to images of pornography, including one with the predator, and an attempt to engage the “child” in a sexually graphic conversation.  Predators are that aggressive…it can happen that fast.

I hope that this short series See How They Chat has illustrated how aggressive predators can be, and how quickly they are willing to find out information about a child, send pornography, and engage in a sexual conversation.  Although this occurred in a training session, it is the same in actual cases.  And, most importantly, these same predators have now moved to cell phones in search of their victims.

This is why it is imperative that parents understand the potential dangers of children having cell phones.  Armed with this knowledge, parents can take appropriate steps to put safeguards in place…this is what RADAR is all about.