Little did she realise that pressing the send button would lead to serious consequences because the young man who she believed she had fallen in love with was an online child predator looking to con young women into sending intimate photos in the guise of a blossoming romance. For one, the global pandemic has done little to deter perpetrators from the online exploitation of countless children who are at home during Covid-19, putting them at higher risk of online criminal activity as they spent more time online. Concurrently, lax adult supervision left a loophole for online cybersex predators, most of whom are already on the prowl to abuse children. Catching online predators has many challenges. Wirawan said that while outside factors related to online cybersex exploitation of minors include widespread availability and affordability of high-speed internet and rise in mobile phone ownership, predators target young children online, specifically teenagers, because they are at an age where they are curious.

Source: Bangkok Post July 12, 2020 22:30 UTC