MAKING FRIENDS ONLINE

Children are always told to "never talk to strangers" however like all children the more friends you have the more popular you become.
From the comfort of your armchair social networking sites such as Facebook and BeBo, chat rooms and instant messaging sites such as MSN can be a great place to make new friends however you can never be too sure who you are really talking to. This is an ideal environment for a pedophile, who by pretending to be a child, can build relationships with children with the sole purpose grooming them.

SO WHAT IS GROOMING?

Grooming is a technique used by paedophiles or child sex offenders to build up a relationship of trust with a child in order to meet in the real world to have sex. They find their victim by monitoring conversations, postings or profiles, targeting those that seem the most vulnerable.

Paedophiles use a variety of methods to build trust such as flattery, sympathy, gifts, money, or even modeling jobs. they do this in order to make their victims feel special and loved.

Grooming takes a lot of patience, so pedophiles will try to groom a few children at the same time.

KEY ADVICE