ABSTRACT
Sexual predation has been and will continue to be a problem in society. My goal is to educate and enlighten criminal justice professionals, students, and the public to the cloak of deception involving sexual predation and the Internet. Most police ocers and detectives are well aware of the individuals in their community that exhibit signs of criminal behavior in the commission of a crime. An example is a shoplier running down the street with a bundle of clothes in his or her arms as they are trying to get away. An ocer stops a van with a few suspicious people that have been reported at the scene of a few burglaries in the area. When the ocer stops the vehicle, he or she discovers burglary tools and proceeds stolen from recent burglaries. A killer leaves his or her ngerprints at a murder scene again, valuable information needed to nd the criminal and motive. When it comes to sexual predators, police and detectives oen have no indication that the person they are talking to is a sexual predator. An ocer cannot tell he or she is dealing with a sex oender unless they have been previously arrested. A sexual predator can be anyone the police encounter; they can be the wealthiest individual or a homeless person. Occupation does not necessarily matter, so long as they have access to children. at access can be a family member or an unsuspecting stranger meeting a sexual predator over the Internet. Many sex oenders choose an occupation that deals with young people, for example, a dance instructor, teacher, Boy Scout or Girl Scout leader, and priest. Research has shown that 95%–96% of sexual predators are men and 4%–5% are women.
