Information about one of the largest rings of online sexual predators was recently unsealed, providing the kind of fodder that news organizations and internet alarmists thrive on. This paragraph taken from a Department of Justice press release, “Operation Delego, an ongoing investigation that was launched in December 2009, targeted the 72 charged defendants and more than 500 additional individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard – a private, members-only, online bulletin board that was created and operated to promote pedophilia and encourage the sexual abuse of very young children, in an environment designed to avoid law enforcement detection.” Still pretty scary, even to the level-headed, no?
As Digital Shepherds endeavors to hit the brick and mortars (‘net slang for actual, offline locations) and educate as many parents as possible about the interwebz, our aim is ALWAYS to steer clear of alarmist rhetoric and just give the facts. I have my own bias in areas, but I really strive to simply present fact based information and let mom and dad decide for themselves what they will implement in their own homes. That said, I still talk to them about teaching their children about “online stranger danger” and the need for that is even more apparent in light of the incident outlined above. What may not be as apparent is that our middle school age children need to know that these rings and many others like them exist. But if this one was focused on children 12 and under, why tell middle schoolers? (Warning: blurred image of the type which can be found on the non-pedophile sites we’re talking about in this post) [Read more...]
