Statistics

• Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given moment. (Dateline, January 2006).

• Every month, approximately 20 new children, many of whom have been kidnapped or sold into the sex industry, become victims when a sexually explicit image of them is posted on a website. (Combating Pedophile Information Networks in Europe, March 2003).

• One-third of youth ages 8-18 have talked about meeting someone they have only met through the Internet. (Internet Safety: Realistic Strategies & Messages for Kids Taking More and More Risks Online. December 21, 2005. Polly Klaas Foundation. February 17, 2006 < http://www.pollyklaas.org/internet-safety/pkfsummary.pdf>).

• 70 percent of teens ages 15-17 say they have accidentally come across porn while using the Internet (Kaiser Family Foundation)
• More than 11 million teens regularly view porn online (“Protecting Kids Online.” Editorial. The Washington Post, July 1, 2004).

• According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in FY 2005 there were 7,000 reports of endangered runaways and 774 reports ofchildreninvolved in or suspected of being involved in child prostitution. (http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress06/swecker040606.htm