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American Morning

The Big Question: How Do You Protect Your Child From Online Sexual Predators?

Aired March 21, 2002 - 07:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The big question this hour: How do you protect your child from online sexual predators? Joining us now to talk about it and offer some help, in New York, Jeannine Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney who just yesterday announced the arrest of a computer teacher accused of molesting young girls under the age of 10; and from Denver, Colorado, psychologist Dr. Leigh Baker, the author of the book "Protecting Your Children from Sexual Predators" -- welcome both of you.

And let me begin with you, Ms. Pirro. How much of a connection is there between the kinds of people the FBI rounded up in Operation Candyman, those who exchange child pornography and those who go to the next step, which is to solicit sex from kids on the Internet and even make arrangements to try to meet them for that purpose?

JEANNINE PIRRO, WESTCHESTER COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, the studies are very varied, but the truth is that there is between 20 to 40 to 50 percent of those who posses child pornography who have actually admitted to molesting children. So there is a correlation. The possession of child pornography is, in fact, an entree for pedophiles to try to convince children that this is a normal thing to do, that this can be a happy experience, and it is a method by which they are able to attract children to engage in this kind of activity.

CAFFERTY: Is there a profile for the people who do this? And is there perhaps even more importantly a profile for kids who may be susceptible to this kind of thing?

PIRRO: Well, our operation, which has been about two years in length, has made it very clear that there is no specific demographic. That people that we have arrested range from Catholic priests, school teachers, superintendent of schools, coaches, doctors, lawyers, it's across the board.

And the children are very often young kids who go on the line, whose parents have bought them a computer for educational purposes, who may have low self esteem, who may be sexually curious, who may have developed a friendship with someone they think is their age, when in fact that pedophile is an individual who is engaged with them as a child in the hopes of meeting them for an offline sexual rendezvous.

CAFFERTY: All right. Let me turn to Dr. Leigh Baker, who has a book out about how to protect your kids against predators -- sexual predators online. I know in my house and probably in most homes of people my age, the kids know 10 times as much about the computers as the adults do. I know next to nothing compared to the kids. They get on there, and they can navigate around, you know, it's very comfortable for them.

Is it enough to rely on the so-called blocking software that's available to keep your computer from having access to some of these sites? And if not, what else -- what other things can I do?

LEIGH BAKER, "PROTECTING YOUR CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL PREDATORS": Well, those are good questions. It's absolutely not sufficient to rely on the blocking software, because they cannot block all of the material that your child may be subject to, such as information on e- mail, on chat lines, on bulletin boards. They will block certain material and going into certain sites that are inappropriate. But what I advocate in my experience in working with parents and children is that parents do become as savvy as their children in computer use. So they can understand what their child is doing and in what sites the child is visiting.

CAFFERTY: Is that enough though? I mean, short of sitting and looking over their shoulder for the entire time they are on the computer, is there some way that you can, you know, somehow reach the child about the danger of this and educate them? Or does it simply pique their curiosity by pointing out to them that these kinds of sites exist online?

BAKER: It absolutely doesn't pique their curiosity. I think parents and children should sit down and develop a contract -- the computer safety contract that lists out all of the dangers that could be found in all the different sites and e-mail and bulletin boards and different sites, and to really talk about what's expected and what behaviors are appropriate, such as -- inappropriate, such as not giving name, location, other identifying information, and that...

CAFFERTY: Any more than you talk to a stranger on the street, right?

BAKER: That's right.

CAFFERTY: I mean, the rules on the computer should be the same.

BAKER: That's correct. Yes.

CAFFERTY: Jeannine Pirro, jump in here. You've got a couple of kids at home.

PIRRO: Yes.

CAFFERTY: How have you handled this thing in your house?

PIRRO: Well, I do have a couple of kids, and there are four rules to live by. No. 1, do not let your kids sign on by themselves. Do not give them a password. Put a computer in an area where you can monitor it...

BAKER: That's right.

PIRRO: ... and make sure that your children understand that that person that they are communicating with might be someone who will seek to meet with them. You know, we used to tell our kids, "Don't talk to strangers."

CAFFERTY: Sure.

PIRRO: We've got to tell them now it's a different world. The person at the other end of that computer is not someone that they can trust. They shouldn't give personal information out about themselves. They shouldn't give their telephone numbers, and they definitely should not meet with someone that they think is a friend whom they have met online.

CAFFERTY: And I guess don't underestimate the capacity of your child to understand the seriousness of a situation. If you sit down and talk straight to a kid, most of them will not only understand it, but act accordingly. And I have raised four of them, and it has always worked best to just deal off the top of the deck with them.

PIRRO: Not only...

CAFFERTY: Here is the danger of this is what you have to be aware of.

PIRRO: Not only that, Jack, but you made it very clear. There is a generational gap between you and me and our children.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

PIRRO: Our kids are very savvy. They can get on that computer. And one of the studies that we found out about was that 50 percent of the kids, who are told not to go online, went online after their parents told them not to. So this is a problem.

BAKER: That's right.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

BAKER: And I have many clients whose parents allow their children to spend an inordinate amount of time on a computer, thinking that the child is doing it for educational purposes.

CAFFERTY: Right.

BAKER: And I agree that the computer should be like any other entertainment system in the home. It should be used for family discussion, communication, family learning.

CAFFERTY: Right. Common sense is one of the overriding considerations I would guess, and then there are some specific rules. Dr. Leigh Baker is the author of the book "Protecting Your Children from Sexual Predators." And Jeannine Pirro is the district attorney in Westchester County -- ladies, thank you very much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. I appreciate it. PIRRO: Thank you.

BAKER: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: We'll talk again about this I am quite sure.

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