Read more: 41-year-old found in Oregon after missing Edmonton teen
The Edmonton teenager was last seen on Friday, June 24, around 8:30 a.m. in the area of 131 Avenue and 91 Street, located next to Killarney Junior High School. Edmonton police said he was found in Oregon on the morning of July 2. A 41-year-old man is in custody and will face charges of child seduction. Edmonton police said additional charges may follow as the investigation progresses. They believe the two met online. In a statement from the FBI on Saturday, the Portland field office said it helped arrest 41-year-old Noah Madrano for allegedly luring a 13-year-old girl from Canada to the US. Story continues below ad The Oregon City Police Department later confirmed that Madrano was arrested on July 2 at the request of the FBI and that he will be in court Tuesday afternoon on the Oregon State charges he is being held on: Kidnapping II, Sexual Assault I and Rape II. Several organizations were involved in the investigation, including ALERT (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams), Northern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit, Oregon City Police and the FBI. 1:58 Oregon man arrested for child luring as missing girl reunites with family Oregon man arrested for child luring as missing girl reunites with family Stephen Sauer with Cybertip says in general it’s more common for enticement and sexual exploitation to happen exclusively online. Cybertip publishes many reports of incidents involving pressure to share indecent sexual photos or for young people to participate in live streams. “The online enticement of children is almost urgent for us. We are seeing an unprecedented number of children being lured or groomed. Someone is contacting them with the intention of committing a sexual offense against them,” says Sauer. Story continues below ad “That increase is about 120 percent over the last six months, in terms of the numbers we’re seeing. “We’re averaging about 155 reports a month at the moment … of a young person engaging in a conversation with someone who has sexually exploited them online.” It’s less common for things to escalate in a face-to-face meeting, he says. Sauer says kids are more engaged with online platforms than ever before, and offenders see that as an opportunity. “Snapchat and Instagram are used quite extensively for this type of activity right now. About 77 percent of the reports we’ve received through the tip line related to online seduction are about Snapchat or Instagram.”
Read more: Parents warn of worldwide campaign targeting teenagers
Little Warriors is seeing similar spikes in online child baiting. Dr. Wanda Polzin Holman, the agency’s clinical director, says offenders seem to target different demographics. Recently, there have been issues of child exploitation alerts in Alberta targeting boys aged nine to 13, he says. 1:05 Online Lure Numbers Soar Online Lure Numbers Soar – December 6, 2021 “This is a really big problem and I think in the last couple of years – through COVID and through kids and teenagers having more access to computers and using the Internet and parents not necessarily being on it all the time – that it opened a gateway for child predators in a way we’ve never seen before.” Trending Stories
Inside Ontario group homes where children were called ‘salaries’ 41-year-old man found in Oregon after Edmonton teenager goes missing
Story continues below ad “For girls, it happens a little bit more slowly,” adds Sauer. “What we’re seeing is that they think they’re in a relationship with a peer of their own age and that what’s happening to them is part of a normal relationship with that person. Often there is a lot of persistence from the person dealing with them.” 1:51 Police in Alberta concerned about increase in child luring cases Police in Alberta concerned about increase in child luring cases – October 31, 2020
Tips for parents and guardians
“They should have regular, ongoing conversations with their kids about technology, understand that technology a little bit more, and give their kids the tools to understand where there’s red flag behavior,” says Sauer. “Where there is persistence, when someone is asking for something that makes you feel uncomfortable, go to a parent or safe adult in your life to let them know about that situation.” He says, at that point, the child should stop all communication with that person, adults can keep some records of the interaction, and then contact Cybertip or the local police. Story continues below ad
Read more: Kids online more than ever during pandemic, creating ‘opportunity’ for predators
Polzin Holman says Little Warriors tries to educate youth and caregivers about the dangers and red flags. “We also see a lot of incidents of what would be called extortion. “We know kids who send images back and forth to each other, but they don’t recognize and realize that those images then become part of the web potentially and that those images can be transmitted and that can be really traumatic for them.” , says. According to Polzin Holman, criminal behavior can take place even in the most innocent applications. “Being aware that a lot of interactions happen in ways that parents and guardians might not be aware of through different platforms like games… like Road Blocks or Minecraft. “They think they are talking to another child online, but this is a place where there are child predators. “Parents and guardians need to continue the conversation, talk to their kids about it, set boundaries, make sure there are ways to put parental controls on their devices, check in, keep the lines of communication open ». 3:27 Predators could be playing online games with your child Predators could be playing online games with your child – August 22, 2019 Edmonton Police Service Insp. Brent Dahlseide also stresses the importance of open communication. Story continues below ad “As a parent myself, if I’m communicating with my kids — about what they’re doing on social media or other media platforms, and I know who they’re with, who they’re communicating with, what information “I’m actually making public, personal information or otherwise — I think this potentially helps eliminate the opportunity for temptation that people can try to take advantage of. “Don’t be afraid to have that communication between parents and youth,” says Dahlseide.
Increase in online child exploitation
Between March 2020 and March 2021, the Canadian Center for Child Protection, or C3P, which operates the national tip line Cybertip.ca, saw an 88 per cent increase in reports — many of which involved predators connecting to youth through social media and live streaming platforms such as Snapchat, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger and Omegle. Sgt. Kerry Shima, with the northern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, recommends that parents download the apps their children use and try the video games themselves.
Read more: Cases of luring and extorting children online are on the rise since the start of the pandemic
Shima said there is no doubt many cases go unreported – with the victim and parents trying to manage the situation on their own. He stressed the importance of coming to the police. Story continues below ad “It can help not only their family, but it can also help other investigations.”
Social media companies ‘bear a huge responsibility’
“I think we’ve put an unfair burden on parents to figure this stuff out,” said Signy Arnason, deputy executive director of the Canadian Center for Child Protection, “and frankly, it’s a little ridiculous. “You can’t monitor everything your child does online. “Companies have a huge responsibility for what needs to change here, as do governments. So we have to demand more.” There is also a reporting tool at Cybertip.ca and steps to take if a youth is being taken over. — With files from Demi Knight, Global News © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
