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Predators and pedophiles who pursue children online for deviant purposes often end up getting caught thanks to the vigilantes and law enforcement agents who pursue these dangerous people. The following are the most common ways that pedophiles and child predators are caught pursuing children for sexual purposes.

Agents Impersonate A Child More often than not, child online predator often end up talking directly to law enforcement personnel posing as a child. It is quite common for law enforcement, such as ICE and FBI agents – as well as agents from other departments – to train for this role. Teenagers and children use a wide variety of texting lingo, acronyms, and an uPPeR-LoWeR case typing style that takes time to understand and practice, in order for an adult to “talk” convincingly on the computer as a young person.

Once an agent has honed their “kid skills”, they troll chat groups, forums and other areas where children often meet online. The agent typically engages in conversations as soon as they make their persona visible. Child predators waste little time in pursuing a potential target, and will begin conversing with an agent thinking they are a child.

Agents Set Up Sex Stings Once a law enforcement agent has gained the trust, or at least the interest, of a potential child predator, they will explore the possibility of setting up an in-person meeting –somewhere private such as the perpetrator’s home, or at the potential victim’s home. This meeting is explicitly for the purpose of sexual contact. Once a meeting is arranged, the child predator will go expecting to meet an under-aged child. Instead, they are met by a decoy and apprehended for their attempt to engage in sex with a child.

Communication Methods Used by Agents When an agent is speaking with a potential child predator, he often uses special software designed to display the IP address of the other person. This information alone can be damaging, since an IP address can pinpoint exactly who and where the person is, if advanced stealth methods were not used to prevent it. However, to build a concrete case against a perpetrator, agents must prove not only who was at the keyboard, but that his ultimate intent was illegal. So an agent will do everything he can to move the conversation to email or texting/calls to further positively identify the predator. Once an email, cell phone, or land line is identified, tracing the person is extremely easy.

Vigilantism There has been countless news stories and publicity about normal, everyday citizens pursuing pedophiles online. Once a potential pedophile has been identified, these vigilantes may contact law enforcement to place them on their radar for further investigation. Or they may post the results of their online conversations, along with personal information and pictures, to humiliate the pedophile and alert the public. Often, these vigilantes are accompanied and even encouraged by news reporters and television shows for the simple desire to have a “sensational” newsworthy story. “Perverted Justice” is one website that advocated this process in conjunction with the NBC show, “To Catch A Predator” for several years.

For more information and tips on how to protect your children online, see Travis Morgan’s book titled “Catch Me If You Know How - Internet Edition” or visit the “Catch Me If You Know How” website at http://www.CatchMeIfYouKnowHow.com.