Florida ranks 5th for online enticement of minors
It’s a list we don’t want to be on: Florida ranks fifth for the number of children who were reported missing after being enticed online.
The new data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children underscores the urgency to monitor not just your child’s social media use, but also virtual reality games which can give strangers access to your kids.
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We told you when 31-year-old Thomas Ebersole was arrested, accused of driving from his home in Marion County all the way to Ohio, where investigators say he picked up a 16-year-old girl who he had met online.
She was reported missing after he drove her back to Florida, where he allegedly planned to hide her and make her his wife.
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“What parents need to understand is there are predators targeting our children every day, day after day,” Jan Edwards of Paving the Way Foundation said. The nonprofit educates young people and their parents about the realities of online grooming and the pipeline it often has to human trafficking.
“Our kids, as we know, are spending an exorbitant amount of time on their phones,” Edwards said. “They really have for the last 10 to 15 years, but it’s worse since the pandemic.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed more than 400 cases of kids being lured online between 2020 and 2023, and found Florida ranked 5th for the number of kids enticed from their home by an online predator, most commonly through Snapchat and Instagram.
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Predators are using gaming apps, too, and Discord ticked up while Facebook fell.
“Our kids get used to talking to somebody on a screen, and they feel like that’s someone they know, and you’re able to share your wildest hopes, dreams, and really you don’t know who that other person is,” Edwards said.
The report lists examples, including a 14-year-old girl who was chatting with an offender on Discord and Instagram. The offender in that case arranged for a rideshare to bring the child to his location.
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In another case, a 13-year-old met with an offender through the chat function on the game ‘Team Fortress 2.’ That child traveled to another state to meet with the offender and was rescued after a witness spotted the pair in a parking lot.
Investigators say a 15-year-old girl who met an offender on Facebook was then advertised for sex online and tested positive for multiple types of drugs after finally coming home.
Edwards’ nonprofit has resources for parents to talk to their kids: https://www.pavingthewayfoundation.org/parent-tech-talk.html
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