Sexual Exploitation of Children Online & Legal Recourse
While the internet offers valuable educational and recreational opportunities to children, the risk of sexual predators looms larger than many parents want to imagine. These individuals often strike up conversations with children on social media, in an online game, or in other relatively public internet spaces. They may start with general comments or questions and potentially suggest that they are younger than their age. Once a child has become comfortable talking to the predator, they may move the conversation to more personal topics or more private forms of communication.
Sometimes predators try to win the trust of a child by offering gifts, such as currency in a video game, or they may compliment the child, sympathize with them, or offer to listen to them about their problems. A bond may grow over time as a predator learns more about a child’s daily life, relationships, concerns, and motivations. Once they feel confident that the child trusts them, they may start to discuss sexual topics. Ultimately, a predator may ask a child to share sexually explicit photos or videos, or even to meet with them in person for sex.
Recognizing and Responding to Child Sexual Exploitation Online
Parents should discuss this internet hazard with their child as candidly as possible, warning them against getting too close with strangers online and sharing personal details with them. For example, a child should not share their address and school. Parents also may want to stay alert to red flags that could indicate the appearance of a sexual predator in their child’s life. These could include gifts from unexplained sources, uncharacteristic evasiveness about what they are doing online, and newly installed chat apps that do not have an obvious purpose. If a parent is particularly concerned, they may want to read a child’s chat history.
When a parent discovers that their child has engaged with a predator online, they should try to find out as much as they can about the interactions, including how long they lasted and how much the child told the predator about their personal information. If the child stored any of their chats with the predator, these should be preserved as evidence in a potential civil or criminal case. A parent may want to ask whether anyone else knows about the child’s interactions with the predator.
Legal Action Based on Child Sexual Exploitation Online
A predator may face criminal charges, potentially at both state and federal levels. These might include rape or statutory rape if they had sex with the child, or child pornography if they received explicit photos or videos of them. If they demanded that the child do something in return for keeping their images confidential, this could expose them to charges such as blackmail or extortion.
While prosecutors pursue criminal charges, parents can file a civil lawsuit against the predator. These proceedings are distinct. The criminal case could result in a prison sentence and fines, while the civil case would seek to recover compensation for the harm caused to the child. The types of damages available depend on the situation, but often parents can recover compensation for medical treatment, including any therapy, counseling, or other mental health assistance that the child needs. In addition, they can receive damages for more subjective forms of harm, such as emotional distress and pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, many online predators lack the personal resources to pay a damages award. This makes it important to explore whether any other party may have shared responsibility for the child’s harm. Some recent lawsuits have sought to hold social media platforms accountable for promoting features that they knew or should have known put children at risk. The lawsuits argue that the platforms enabled sexual exploitation by refraining from implementing protections for minors. These arguments are complex, and the law in this area is still evolving, but parents may want to consult an attorney about this possibility if an online predator harmed their child.
