Internet Crimes Against Kids Surge In King County During Pandemic

SEATTLE — The number of cases involving crimes against children online has grown during the coronavirus pandemic, joining several other types of offenses that also surged in 2020, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Prosecutors have previously detailed increases seen in domestic violence, shootings and animal abuse.

During a news briefing this week, prosecutors said at least 63 cases involving internet crimes against minors were on record by Friday, surpassing the total filed in 2019 by about 30 percent.

The Seattle Police Department, which operates as a "clearinghouse" for internet crimes in Washington, sometimes can receive as many as 150 reports each day, which are then distributed to agencies throughout the state for further investigation. That figure, prosecutors said, can sometimes be up to three times higher than levels reached in 2019.

Allegations include those for possessing, sharing, or viewing explicit images of minors, as well as communicating with underage people for sexual purposes.

"I know that all of the investigative agencies that I work with have seen a huge spike in cases during COVID," said Laura Harmon, a deputy prosecuting attorney for King County. "A lot of experts in the field have talked about how this type of spike appears to be because there's just more people at home, more people on the internet, both children and offenders. This has created kind of a perfect storm for offenders to seek out children, [and] offenders to seek out other offenders to try to trade and increase their personal amount of depictions that they have."

The range of crimes and ages vary greatly and can include suspects posing as minors to collect and share inappropriate photos, trying to extort victims or attempting to meet up with them. Harmon said there are few common threads among offenders, beyond that most offenders are men with internet connections.

"These types of cases know no bounds," Harmon said. "It doesn't see race or economic status or neighborhood, it really crosses all lines. These are offenders that have never offended before, these are offenders who are on sex offender registries, it runs the complete gamut."

According to data from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, nearly 80 percent of victims are girls. Reports involving "direct communication," or chatting directly with victims increase with age and appear most common in older teens. But some children can be far younger.

"It runs anywhere from 5, sometimes 6, because kids are so tech-savvy these days, they know how to jump on an iPad and start chatting on a particular platform with their friends," Harmon said. "That's kind of the earliest, and obviously up until they're 17, which is the more common age that you see in terms of chatting with them, enticing them to take pictures, or meet with them in person."

Harmon said many cases she has reviewed involve teens who exchange messages with someone posing as their age, with the offender beginning as complimentary and escalating the situation to obtain sexual photos. Sometimes, that can lead to the suspect threatening to release the photos publicly, unless more are sent.

"This is just becoming more and more common in the cases that I've seen these days," Harmon said. "I know that law enforcement is seeing it all over the state."

Prosecutors said the best way parents can keep children safe from predators is two-fold: speaking frankly with them about the danger and keeping tabs on their online footprint.

"Step one is having an open and honest conversation," Harmon said. "Step number two is also just monitoring them, whether that be through current settings on their devices, or just looking through their devices to know what platforms they're on, what they're doing, what they're talking about — that kind of combination of those two things is the best way."

As a general rule, children should avoid interacting with people they do not know in real life online, Harmon said. In instances where some social interaction is part of an activity, like online gaming, do so with caution.

"Just make sure that you keep it safe for yourself," Harmon said. "Don't send pictures...do not send private information about yourself at all."

Another setting Harmon recommends checking is what location details are shared, since some apps may display sensitive data by default.

"I know Snapchat has a feature that will geolocate you on a map," Harmon said. "Unless you turn that feature off, anyone you chat with, even if it's a stranger you didn't necessarily intend to give your location, they now have access."

Harmon said the surge while the surge in activity has been especially pronounced during the pandemic, investigators expect the battle will continue well into the future.

"I do expect this to continue until lockdowns subside and life goes back to normal, so to speak," Harmon said. "Even then though, I think we'll still see a rise, it will just be less steep than what we're experiencing right now and have been experiencing since March."