Net-related crimes against kids: Reality check

There are four key things parents should know about Net-initiated sex crimes against kids: 1) the victims are usually younger teens, 2) they don't think of their assailants as strangers, 3) they didn't feel they were deceived, and 4) these crimes, as much as we hear about them, represent a fraction of overall sexual exploitation of children in the US. This was my take-away from a survey of law-enforcement agencies across the US (I'm looking for more recent figures but, in 2000, there were 500 arrests for Net-related crimes out of 65,000 overall). For details, please see this week's issue of my newsletter.