D.D. had a feeling her mouth was hanging open. She’d never pictured sex predators as working professionals before. That level of discipline. That level of focus. “Ummm, aren’t there safety protocols or security software that help block sex predators’ access to kids?”
“Yes and no. See, most five-year-olds join websites that feature their favorite toys, where they can become a member. Now, these sites certainly advertise to parents their security protocols. Stuff like they have trained professionals hanging out on the websites patrolling for bullying, that sort of thing. And they impose limits on communication, mostly on instant messaging where it appears Virtual Animal A is talking to Virtual Animal B using dialogue bubbles. Virtual Animal A can ‘chat’ with Virtual Animal B, but only by selecting from stock phrases. This gives parents a sense of security. Cute fuzzy Animal A can’t type in a dialogue box, Hey want to meet after school, because that’s not a stock phrase.
“Unfortunately, parents are missing the obvious. Just joining these sites, becoming a part of a virtual community where you are encouraged to make virtual friends and rewarded for hanging out, is starting the grooming process. A five-year-old now thinks it’s good to be online. A five-year-old now thinks it’s something special to be a member of an Internet community. And a five-year-old now thinks it’s fun and desirable to invite perfect strangers to be friends. From an online predator’s point of view, a kiddie website does all the up-front work for him. Then he just has to show up and close the deal.”
“But how?” D.D. asked. “According to you, they can only communicate using pre-scripted phrases.”
“Sure, on those sites. Which is why they serve as the first step in the grooming process. Look, a guy like Antiholde picks a popular kids site, say AthleteAnimalz.com. He logs on to the site, enters his animal’s code, becomes a member. Then, for the first few weeks, he does what any user does—he plays like mad. He masters games, he builds up points, he wins whatever there is to win. Boys, in particular, are acutely status-conscious. From an early age, they want to win and they want to be friends with winners. So Antiholde becomes that winner. He builds a virtual image as the most popular, most successful member of the site. The high school quarterback everyone wants to high-five in the school halls. Then he goes to work.
“He starts monitoring other users. He’s looking for the members that play regularly. Remember, he’s a day trader. He’s got a lot of stocks to watch, so he doesn’t want the random visitor to the site. He wants someone with fairly predictable hours, the kid that goes on after school or after dinner most days of the week. The kid that day in, day out, he’s gonna find there.
“Now he starts friending. Invites other users to be his buddies. Asks them to play games with him. And again, the website is going to do his work for him, by providing the perfect team-building exercises. Think of any of the virtual combat games—Antiholde’s character will be the one that magically has your back. He’ll save your character again and again. Which will make you feel good about him, again and again. In a matter of weeks, you’re happy to see him logged on to the site, excited to be on his team, and even more thrilled when he invites you to log on and play with him at certain times during the day. You’re not just friends now, you’re friends.”
“Yeah,” D.D. interjected, “but it’s all still online. A virtual relationship. Creepy, but make believe. Plus what are the odds the kid is from the predator’s same town? I mean, I’ve heard the stories of the sixteen-year-old girl being lured into taking a plane to meet her new soul mate, but a five-year-old?”
“Sports teams,” O said.
“Sports teams?”