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Original Story URL: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=687221

Agent warns of Web dangers

Monitor your kids' usage, he says

By JOHN DOBBERSTEIN
jdobberstein@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Nov. 16, 2007

If parents want to keep kids away from sexual predators on the Internet, they should think as if they're fighting a 15-round boxing match, a state investigator says.

Expect arguing, whining and complaining from the children. But don't give in.

"Where are the kids getting hurt? Not out on the street. It's right under the noses of moms and dads," said Eric Szatkowski, a special agent for the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation.

"Maybe it's while you're asleep, maybe while you're watching television, maybe while you're at work. Predators are at work as well," he said.

More than 15,000 computers in Wisconsin are being used to deal in child pornography through file-sharing programs, Szatkowski said recently during a presentation to local parents.

Children and perpetrators are using many different screen names so they can visit chat rooms or send instant messages with less scrutiny, he said. And teens are being lured away to frightening encounters.

Szatkowski works for the state's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Unit, which seeks to catch predators and dealers of child pornography. About 100 people are arrested in Wisconsin each year for Internet sex crimes against children, Szatkowski said.

"It's an area of public protection that we need to do more about," said Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, adding that he will continue to lobby for more staff to handle Internet crime. He spoke along with Szatkowski at Wednesday's session at Alexian Village.

The latest challenge for law enforcement and parents is social-networking Web sites such as Facebook or MySpace, Szatkowski said. Even if a child makes his or her social group private, a perpetrator can still send e-mails and ask to be friends, as well as lie about his age or hometown to hide his real identity.

Some parents at the presentation said they've been monitoring their child's Internet use, and one woman said her daughter had been pursued recently by a predator.

Another woman asked how to discuss computer use with other parents who don't monitor it enough. Szatkowski said he wouldn't allow a child to go to someone else's house unless Internet filters were being used on their computers - and even then, filters can be disabled by computer-savvy youth.

"Teaching (your children) values is important because you can't be with them 24/7," he said. "Forget about being a friend. We need parenting."