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Online Consoles 'Foot in the Door' for Child Predators, Claim Police

by Aaron Linde, Jul 02, 2008 8:00pm PDT
Related Topics – Controversy

Sexual predators are making use of Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360's online gaming functionality to pursue children, according to a USA Today report.

Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Thomas Kish stated that predators view video games as a "foot in the door" to get access to children, adding that "child predators are migrating from traditional methods to alternate media."

"They are going to places where children are," Kish noted.

The report makes note of several instances in which predators employed online games such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft (PC) to meet children, and another instance in which a man sent a 10-year-old boy explicit video via Xbox Live while playing Bungie's Halo 3 (360).

Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 feature video chat when equipped with their respective camera peripherals, which are sold separately from the systems.

Nintendo's Wii, meanwhile, includes no such chat function and employs a friend code system which makes getting in touch with children—and virtually everyone else—much more difficult than on Microsoft and Sony's consoles.

Purdue University cyber forensics lab director Marc Rogers said that parents may not be aware of the online functions of home consoles, or the means by which parental locks can be bypassed.

Microsoft offers training to police and other agencies on how to extract text messages and other information from Xbox 360 consoles seized in arrests and investigations.


Read all the News


Comments

22 Threads | 36 Comments
  • #36
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    By: JimRune x
    Reply
    We need a system that incorporates the best of both worlds: eliminating child molesters and dragging the kids to a far away place away from me and the games I play.

    A shock would be given to both the offending child molester and the offending child once GM's determine that there is a legitimate offense. A car with Federal plates would drive up to both addresses within fifteen minutes of the shock, collect the offenders, and drive them to two separate locations. One location contains a meat grinder for the child molester. The other location, a plane headed for Honduras.

    Considering the desired final outcome, I think this system would be well worth the effort.
    Jul 05, 2008 2:56pm PDT
  • #21
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    By: Xevo x
    Reply
    This is sadly not a new concept. Whenever new technologies are introduced, the sleaze inevitably finds its way onto them. I remember when BBSes were a new concept, there was a really shady one here in Atlanta with a well-known child predator at the helm. However, if you were a teenager, it was tough to resist the lure of forbidden fruit, since his board had all the good stuff out in the open and fully available to anyone unlike the more popular boards which restricted access to any bandwidth-heavy content.

    Basically, it's the "Get in my car, I'll give you some candy" trick, except that they've gotten more and more creative as the toys that kids play on have evolved. Unfortunately, as long as parents don't get involved in what their kids are doing in their free time, this is always going to be a problem.
    Jul 03, 2008 2:27am PDT