Coronavirus pandemic results in surge in child pornography, online enticement

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many Americans to work and educate their kids from home, but it has also led to a surge in child pornography sharing and child enticement.

The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children has reported dozens of stories highlighting the dangers to children amid the pandemic.

WDBO spoke with an advocate drawing attention to the dangers kids face and the challenge for parents to protect them while online. Melissa Hoppmeyer is co-founder of Right Response Consulting.

“The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has reported that the number of tips of child pornography and child exploitation has doubled in the last year, so we had about 6.3 million in the first half of 2019 and they’re reporting about 12 million through June of 2020,” said Hoppmeyer.

Hoppmeyer points out while the Internet has made quarantining during the pandemic easier when it comes to school and work, it has also made the job of child predators easier.

“We have moved to a completely online system and so a lot of the time parents just do not have the ability or the capacity or the knowledge to be able to monitor our children online and this provides predators an exceptional opportunity to exploit that and that is what they’re doing,” said Hoppmeyer.

You can hear all of Darrell Moody’s interview with Melissa Hoppmeyer by clicking HERE.

Cox Media Group