NORFOLK, Va.— Many parents buy their children cell phones and gaming devices to keep them connected with their friends. But with these devices come concerns, leading cybersecurity experts to issue a warning to parents about sexual predators.
"Your child could, at any time, be in contact with a true predator online, trying to reach out and touch them in a virtual world," said Len Gonzales, Ally Cyber Investigations LLC.
According to the U.S Sentencing Commission, the expansion of digital and mobile technology has contributed to a 422% increase in child pornography production offenders.
"If it's some other app or some other mainstream social networking or social media site, those predators are going to exist on those sites," said Gonzales.
It's a situation our News 3 reporter Kelsey Jones has been following since last year: a Norfolk teen who was known for being to herself and active on the internet went missing in August 2022.
Her family reached out to Norfolk police, but court documents revealed that it wasn't until the teen logged on to her online Nintendo Switch account that investigators found out who she was with and her location.
Ethan Roberts, 28,took a bus from Phoenix to Norfolk to meet the teen, and she rode back to Arizona with him. Documents revealed they had been chatting for seven months.
"We need to understand what the apps do and a lot of it starts with getting on the child's device and asking questions about what type of apps currently reside on their mobile device," said Gonzales.
The father of the Norfolk teen has been open about what led up to the disappearance of his daughter. News 3 is not sharing the father's or the victim's identities to protect their privacy.
The father said this happened under his nose.
"I mean, I never would've thought that could've happened over a gaming system," said the victim's father.
Gonzales said predators are often looking for pictures and videos that can lead up to a physical encounter.
The FBI gained access to Roberts' electronic devices, on which they found many inappropriate photos of the teen and sexual conversations.
On Thursday, Roberts was sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography.
"There's a lot of questions that parents can ask their kids," Gonzales said. "I think right now is a great time for them to have those open honest conversations with them to see what they're truly doing online."
Gonzales also urges parents to set boundaries on device use and encourages kids to speak out if approached by someone they don't know on these platforms and gaming devices.
For more information from cybersecurity, click here.
