Eleven people have been arrested this week on several child porn charges, from possessing photographs to soliciting sex with children over the Internet, the Central Illinois Cybercrime Unit said March 24.
"The information superhighway has replaced the back alley or the unattended playground of years past as a venue of choice for criminals who wish to prey on your children," FBI spokesman Weyasan Dun told WHOI-TV.
Dun also said parents should be the first line of defense against child porn and predators even with police becoming more proactive in fighting it, but a big part of the problem is that there is no single sign that someone might be a sexual predator.
Adult Sites Against Child Pornography executive director Joan Irvine said Dun's point should not be dismissed lightly because individual sex predators are very difficult to identify.
"[He] brought up a very good point, which many parents prefer to ignore: It is parents’ responsibility to monitor their children's activities," Irvine said. "The parents I know who work in the adult site industry do not allow their children access to the Internet unless it is in an open area [of their residence] or their computer is networked so the parents can oversee the children."
