IamA Deputy Sheriff that conducts undercover chats for child exploitation cases AMAA!

ASL?

14/f/us u?

It's a trap!!

lol why wud I lie about my age???? lame

There was a guy that chatted me up a few times when I was like 12 e was in his 30s, even came to my town in hopes of finding me/meeting me. I told him about a thing that was going on, next time i talked to him he said he showed up and couldn't find me.

It was weird because at the time I didn't really get what he was trying to do.. But now it's evident.

To make things worse, I've seen him online as recent as a few years still probably doing te same shit.

God I should fucking bust him.

PM me a screen name. ;)

If you initiate the contact, does that make it more difficult to get a conviction? How does that work with the legality of it all?

If I initiate the contact the whole case gets thrown out so yes. That's something we don't do.

Do you have a favorite catch phrase to say when making the arrest?

I just like introducing myself as the name of the little girl they thought they were talking to.

That's probably the most terrifying thing you could say to them.

Might I suggest though, "I know you were expecting sex, but it turns out you're just fucked."

Ok, so stealing that to use at least once.

Are there ever occasions where you get someone over 21 who's just looking for someone to talk to?

Yeah happens all the time. Some are never sexual and just looking to talk. I'll talk to them for awhile because it's obvious they are going through a hard time then I'll cut communication. I always be sure to cut communication in a way that doesn't hurt them even more. It's still fucked up that they want to talk to a 14 year old but if I can help someone through a depressing time when no once else can then so be it.

Some people just wanna talk to anybody.

Yeah that's the way I see it. I may have been the only person that took the time to listen, regardless of my "age".

How do you complete a course for "Undercover Chat Investigations"? Is it a quiz on 90s chat acronyms and AOL chatrooms?

Haha you'd be surprised at how close you are. It's that and the law pertaining to entrapment so you learn how to properly do these cases. I've had several hundred hours of training for internet crimes, but figured this particular certification would be good for Reddit proof.

What sort of a ratio of men to women do you see? Have you ever been more than ordinarily surprised by who the target turned out to be?

All men. The women that are part of this are in the much darker aspect where they are selling their kids or something like that. They are very cautious and hard to investigate.

The most surprising was another police officer. That was an awkward arrest.

Can you elaborate please? I'm curious about the backstory, if you are allowed to share any details that is.

Just that. He was a cop from a few counties away. When he showed up he tried playing the "I was here to help this child I was going to call you guys if it was real!" His chat history, and the child porn back at his house, didn't help his story too well.

Do you already know everything about these guys when you go for the pickup? Do you think that people in departments like yours ever tip off other cops that they're in danger when they catch them trolling for kids?

Yes, usually at the time of the takedown we know exactly who we're looking for. During an investigation only the cybercrime team knows anything about the cases we're doing. We are a very tight group of people so no I have never suspected them of doing anything like that. We are all in it for the same reason, to help kids. I know that even if we were about to hit another cop this group of people is about the children. We don't care who we have to go after.

What's your opinion of where the internet needs to go from here? On one hand I recognize the needs to get at predators, on the other hand I respect the internet for the freedom it provides. What's your take?

Absolute freedom. The government should not restrict the internet. People will find what they want, regardless of "restrictions". Restrictions only hurt law abiding citizens.

What is the weirdest thing someone was wanted to do sexually?

Fucking animals. I swear I was getting asked to suck my dogs dick so much that I finally made myself a new rule and never say that I have a pet. Even a goldfish wasn't safe to have.

As a mother of an (almost) 19 month old daughter, your job makes me cringe. Thank you for catching the scum who pray on young children.

What's your most fucked up case?

I had to portray a young father selling his toddler for sex setting up a target. That was the hardest string of chat sessions I've ever had to do. The case went federal so I don't know what happened after the target was taken down but I can only hope he got what was coming to him.

Have you ever known a real case of a parent or guardian trying to sell custody of their child to internet pedophiles?

Yes. There's many places on the internet where this takes place.

Why would the parents do something like that? For the money? Do they feel bad about it?

Usually it's a drug problem and they've run out of options to pay for it.

Have you ever played the opposite role? i.e. a pedophile purchasing child from unworthy parents?

I havn't no. Though some do, I havn't been doing this long enough to pull off that type of investigation.

How difficult is it to impersonate a 14-year-old girl? I can imagine that the perps are wary of stings, even though they might not be the brightest folks online.

It's really not that difficult. Like you said they are not the brightest folks online. There are many that I run across and know they ain't buying my bullshit, but most of the ones that are online looking for young kids are pretty stupid.

Those that "catch on" the seemingly more cautious cunning ones, don't they worry you the most though? Does their information get passed on to something else?

Yes, they actually worry me the most. Once they catch on I forward whatever I got to the proper agency and they can follow up. Everyone leaves a fingerprint on the internet though so even by the time the catch on it's possible to figure out who they really are.

Your line is extremely dificult in terms of psychological after effects. My question is, how often did you feel an urge to hurt a perpetrator?

Some cases can be, yes. Theres often times I turn off all my undercover electronics so that I can take a break from everything. Theres many times during some cases that I feel hatred and want to hurt the people on the other side. However, when it comes to takedown time you snap back into your professional mode and realize it's part of a job.

Are you male or female?

Male

Do you bother finding these people in online games? Years ago there was this 30+ year old always finding and hitting on 12-16 year old girls on a PS2 game. I contacted Perverted Justice and told them about it, but they just said they only do chatrooms.

this was years ago, so do you bother with online games now? There a many naive children playing them. I run into 12-14 year old girls in Second Life all the time (well, i've seen/confirmed like maybe 6 in the span of 3 or 4 years, but still). I remember one was hanging out with some vampire guy and he apparently like buying her avatar sexy clothing and he refered to her as his daughter and such.

If anything I think you guys should have a strong presence in games like IMVU. It's practically a candy store for pedos. I have a job that involves interacting wiht IMVU and Second Life users and the amount of children in IMVU willing put themselves out there is too damn high.

Edit: to everyone shocked that SL still exists, yeah it does and it's still going very strong. Literally millions of dollars exchange hands within the game every single day. A lot of people fail to realize that Second Life isn't primarily a 3D game or social environment where you just chat to people. It's a tool for 3D models, scripters/programmers, animators, artists etc etc to use and a platform for making real life money. Sure most realize that it involves real life money, but what you may not realize is how many people are doing it. I personally make about 20USD a week from selling clothing and items. There's a lot of money to be made with it, yet 90% of the SL population never bother with content creations. It's a great tool in that sense, but I'd never recommend to my family members because of the typical Second Life user being bat shit crazy.

I'd recommend it to you guys though if you're interested in making things and sell them in a virtual space. You can literally make and do anything. ANYTHING. It's just that most people fail to understand this concept and give up on it after a few days. People have even made Attack on Titan 3D Maneuver Gear that functions just like it does in the anime. You can seriously make and do anything. Give it a try and you'll see SL itself isn't shitty. Just most of the peopel are just like here on reddit and anywhere on the internet.

I do work in second life. There's a whole underground culture there for this stuff. I havn't looked into IMVU much, but I will. Thanks.

Do you end up apprehending them in person? How does that work?

Most of the time yes. If I can get them to travel to my jurisdiction. Some cases bother me so much that when I hand them off to the proper state or federal agency I'll go with them for the takedown just so I know the person is apprehended.

Just wanted to say thank you first, you do a necessary job and we are safer because of it. Also, how many times have you accidentally caught teenage boys cruising the net for some action? Does anything ever come of it?

I only target those over 21. Once I realize they are younger than that I cut all communication.

Are you part of an Internet Crimes against Children Task Force for your area?

Yes, which is part of the national program with the Department of Justice.

How long have you been working child exploitation cases?

About 2 years now, with breaks in between. These type of cases you have to clear your head for awhile before getting back into it.

Have you ever had the suspicion or actually found out that you were talking to another undercover agent?

No. I can't go into much details about this, but there's a way we can check on a national level who's working what and what their screen names are.

Love how more than a few posters are using the new word " predating"... It's PREYING! Preying or preyed upon are the words I believe you want to use.

Anyway, thanks for the great work, OP!

I was wondering where "predating" was coming from. Feel like I'm missing out on something because I've actually never seen that term used like that lol

Thank you for doing what you do. I'm sure it can be emotionally draining, especially if you're a parent.

How often do you find "perpetrators"? I'm curious, because the fact that your job exists, means that there are enough creeps on the web to make a career catching them worth investing in.

Building on that, do you think law enforcement positions like yours will eventually help to deter child exploitation over the internet? Hopefully, one day you're position won't be needed. :)

Find them constantly. It's a dark part of the internet that people forget is there. There is enough that the DOJ pumps millions of dollars into the programs every year.

Unfortunately it's one perv at a time. The other side of my job is education. We go out to schools and churches and teach the dangers of the internet and apps. That probably has the biggest impact.

What medium do you use to get in with predators? It seems these "online chatrooms" are dead these days so is it facebook? twitter? what?

Facebook, twitter, and instagram. However, those take so much work to keep up and once you bust a target you have to scrub everything and start over so that your profile isn't busted out. There's many meetup apps that have been targeted by pervs, such as snapchat and ones like that.

Where do you get pictures and stuff for your profiles? Are there stock photos and info for you to use?

The "bait" must be a police officer that works with our agency. We are fortunate enough to have a very young looking female officer that is willing to have her picture out like that.

Are you surprised at how dumb some of these folks can be? Especially after shows like "To Catch a Predator" aired?

Absolutely. Every time I pop someone I'm amazed it was even possible.,

Have you ever gotten drawn into other aspects of crime via undercover work, e.g. bullying between teens, kids discussing shoplifting, drug deals etc?

One of my targets that was coming to meet me ended up bringing a shit load of weed and ecstasy. We use the same takedown team that the narcotic guys use so it was a real good day for them. They got a perv and drugs.

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We know human psychology. Being in law enforcement you learn how to read people and adapt to them. However, for most of the targets, tlkin lik dis cud be enuff (btw, I'd never talk that bad in a chat, that's just a horrible example)

So I was 12 and I met this guy online, and we started talking. He'd ask me weird questions, like if I shaved, my bra size, what colour underwear I was wearing, you know the normal creepy stuff. He saw me on webcam a couple times, but I never showed him anything. One day he stopped coming online, and I sent him a message. His response was "I can't do this I'm getting married." I was so shocked, I cried for a long time at how stupid I was. It was the worst, and how he ended it surprised me since he said he was 16. Do they ever end it like that? just a random "I need to stop."

Yep. I only hope that the "I need to stop" is legit and they realize how stupid they were and change their ways.

What kind of research did you do or how did you research the 12-14 year old? I don't know how to phrase that less awkwardly... .-.

What kind of schooling did you do before you became a police officer?

You mention you listen to music and play video games on the job (living the dream, lol). What do you like to listen to? What games are you playing?

Twitter and Instagram. That will teach you everything you need to know about being a teenager again.

I served in the military before being a cop. Took some classes for computer forensics before I got bored with it.

I listen to just about everything. From classic rock to dubstep. It's constantly changing up. As far as video games I fear that after September 17 GTA will play a big part in the decrease of my stats.

I know shit like that is real but I chose to not think about it. I have a lot of respect for you to knowingly fight these people. How do you cope with it?

I work on a computer with 2-3 monitors. When talking to these people I have one monitor for them. The other is playing movies, music, or video games to help keep my mind off what's happening.

Huh, interesting! I thought you'd be in an office somewhere surrounded by other officers?

Choice of game? I bet it can't be too involved, no sitting in Teamspeak or anything... "Hang on, guys. I have a guy getting horny here, gotta talk to him."

Na, quite the opposite. When doing this stuff we are left alone because it's so fucked. The only other officers that would be around are other cybercime unit guys. A regular cop has nothing to do with this and wont step in the cybercime office because of the stuff they know they might end up seeing.

Haha, no I'm usually not on teamspeak. That would be awkward.

Do you work with a team of people doing the chats or is it just yourself?

Also do you ever speak as an adult and get them to tell you what they've done or is it just primarily as teenagers?

It is a team of people, but I mostly do the chats. We are each good at different things. My strength is the internet and computers, but I suck at interviews and interrogations. So someone else handles that and the court paperwork.

Did you use Reddit before getting into this line of work, or did you get on Reddit beacuse of your job? I know there can be some weird stuff on here, but that?

I migrated to Reddit from 4chan. Both of which I've been a part of before doing this work. Both of which I only browse in "off duty" mode.

You said you don't initiate contact. Does that mean that you just set up a fake girl FB account and local adult men approach you from cyberspace cuz they like your picture/profile?

There's no mutual friend intro, or common membership in a One Direction fanclub etc to give them some kind of lead that the can connect with? It just seems so strange to me that a predator would be so blunt.

That's exactly what I do. I set it up and they come to me. In fact, that's the only way we are allowed to do these investigations. So while it seems strange to you, it happens way too often.

The implication of this is staggering because it means that pretty much every teen girl is probably being approached this way multiple times.

I mean, if you 'dress up' as a kid and you get hit on so often you can make a career out of it, a real regular kid must be going through the same things or close to it right? Or are your profiles baited with references to single homes/poverty/abuse to make you seem extra vulnerable?

No, they aren't baited with any information up front. From the outside they look like a regular teenage child. It's sad, but yes, real teenagers get approached just as much. Hell, just try saying you're a female here on reddit and watch what kind of comments you get.

Have you ever busted someone who seemed to be a regular bust but turned out to be somebody with a dark history?

They all seem to be regular. Most of the time the family fails to believe you until you start showing them chat histories.

Thank you for doing what you do, I have 5 younger siblings I no longer live with and this is the kind of thing that makes me cringe just thinking about it.

I was wondering, how do you accurately portray a teenager considering that the person on the other end most likely knows the risks of what they are doing and how Internet is monitored?

It's really not hard because people that do this aren't that bright. They are purely driven on the chance of getting to hook up with a kid and most don't even consider the fact that it could be a trap. We have a very good system of reassurances that keep them from getting spooked on us.

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No, not really. These people come from all walks of life and are of every position in the community.

What do you say to give them a way out? Do you just say no multiple times?

Stall, cancel plans, cut communication. It's very well known that guys think with their second head way too often. We give them a chance to get that out of the way. After weeks of the same chat though that's when it becomes obvious that the target is an actual danger to society and is actively trying to get a child.

What happens if they want proof you're 14 yo girl? Like a head shot or something nonsexual. Do you have a stock photo you send them, or do you change the subject?

We have a very young looking female officer that we use. The proper camera angle and lighting has worked so far.

How far do you usually go with the guy before you make an arrest?

Also, how long is the process to have the person arrested or to catch them?

The process varies from person to person. The shortest was 3 days. I'm currently working one where we've been talking for almost 4 months. That also answers your first question. We take it as far as the target pushes. We never send lewd pictures or sext with them, but that doesn't keep most of them from doing what they are going to do.

What counseling is available to people in your line of work?

They pay for counseling if needed and have chaplains. We go through psych evals often to make sure we're not losing it.

Have you ever caught someone that you knew in person? That would have to be strange.

Thankfully no. That would be awkward.

I thought chatrooms were a thing of the past. Are the majority of cases still catching someone on something like yahoo chatrooms?

No. It's moved to social media and apps. There is still chatrooms out there and it still happens in chats but there aren't teenagers in chats. I return to chats if I'm posing as an adult looking for other adults that are harming children.

This will sound naive, but are there still '90s-style chat rooms? I don't understand how sick douche bags like that actually find a place to chat with kids, and visa versa.

Yes. It's not AOL or yahoo anymore, but there are new ones that are basically the exact same.

You seem to specialize in faking girls. Does someone else in the department act out the boys? Or do you not get that many men going for boys to make it worthwhile?

I actually do both. The only reason I tend to be a girl more is because we have a good girl decoy. We don't have a boy decoy (male officer that looks young enough) that we can use for pictures and stuff.

If a minor posses as an adult, and you sext them. Would you get in trouble for sexting with a minor?

We don't sext at all. No lewd photos, no lewd chats, nothing. The target does all of that and we just listen and act like we like it.

Have you ever posed as another pedophile to catch one of these guys?

Yes. Those are the hardest investigations to do, to bring yourself down to that level.

Actual 14 year old girl here!

I'm so glad that someone out there is trying to stop all of these creepers from getting to people around my age or younger. I ALMOST got lured in completely when I was around 9, but i had enough common sense to report the dude.

Do you get to know what happens to every case?

Most of the ones, yes. Some of them I hand off to other agencies and it might take them awhile to make an arrest. Those are usually the ones I don't get to hear about what happens.

Also, since you just told everyone you're a 14 year old girl, be sure to PM me the creepers that blow your inbox up from this thread ;)

has there ever been a time when the offender was another undercover, or is this just Hollywood crap

Just hollywood crap

Does your family know what your job entails/ the length you'll go on a daily basis? Are they at all disturbed by the work you do? Or are you not able to tell them very much at all?

My SO is also a cop, which ends up being a great help. Since she deals with the worse of the worse too, it's real easy for me to be able to talk about the shit that's bothering me without having to worry about it upsetting her. After a days work we listen about police stuff for like a hour or two then leave it all behind. We tend to find a good balance to help each other when it comes to dealing with the stuff we deal with.

For parents and others who are concerned a child they know may be being "predated" who should we call to report?

Send a cyber tip through www.cybertipline.com they distribute all tips to the proper agencies to be worked. That's how we start most of our investigations.

how many predators do you think are in the united states? Also, what chat sites are most prevalent with predators?

They have resorted back to IRC mostly now. That's where the chatrooms are. My investigations are primarily social media sites and apps though as that's the new thing.

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It depends on what stage of the investigation I'm in. If we are still just talking then I'll have several going on at once. Sometimes it is hard keeping up with what you've told one against the others. However, if it gets to the point where I know they are actively hurting a child, or they are about to travel to meet a child them I extensively focus on them. I do have a partner that can assess all my material at any time and I the same with them.

Do you ever worry that you're only catching the low-hanging fruit? The guys on To Catch a Predator all seemed kinda incompetent.

Suppose you're only catching the ones who never stood a chance in the first place and the effective predators are getting away?

*I suppose one way to answer this is if you could say how often (percentage?) it turns out these guys you catch have an actual victim in their past or present life.

Every arrest has resulted in locating either child porn, or a real victim. Even if this is "low-hanging fruit" they are still hurting a child or intending on hurting a child.

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I am. Keeping up with all these questions is great exercise!

Whats the worst thing youve seen in your career?

The worst thing I've seen in my career is a shotgun suicide. That had nothing to do with cybercrime stuff though. That's regular police shit :/

Do you offer them sex or flirt with them?

Offer sex, no. In a way we flirt with them, but keep it very vague and never in a sexual way.

A question that comes to mind is: to what extent do you tend to/ are you allowed to be an instigator in these cases.

Can't instigate any of it. They must lead the entire process.

How often do you run across the web being used for more organized sex crimes, such as recruiting for prostitution? Does that happen much, or is it more "lone wolf" type predators?

craigslist and backpage is exactly what this is.

What's your opinion on Chris Hansen "To Catch a Predator?" Have you ever caught anyone from the surrounding community that you recognized from outside of your job?

To Catch A Predator had good intentions, and I enjoyed watching them when they came out, but now knowing what I know they did a horrible job at these investigations.

I've never caught anyone that I already knew.

What specifically is your criticism of To Catch a Predator?

Nothing about NBC it self. The company they used, Perverted Justice, did entrap people and ruined any case that law enforcement could have possibly made. They didn't follow proper procedures and were basically in it to get someone on TV for Dateline. To Catch A Predator itself was a great tool to teach parents about the internet danger, especially since it was still all kinda new then. They just went a bad way of doing it.

Very interesting. Are profiles portrayed as honest? I've always been confused about the entrapment part of these cases, or people simply calling it entrapment. For example would LEO put a profile saying the person was 18, then coming out later and saying they're 16? I saw in other answers that LEOs never sext or send nudes either? Thanks for the AMA and keep up the great work!

No, we are honest (lol) about us be 12-14 at all times. The age never changes.

Do you use the "deep web" to catch some of the predators and the parents who sell their kids? Do you use it at all for any investigating?

I'm very familiar with tor/freenet simply because I've been around the internet long enough. However, the investigation part of tor is still new so we don't use it too much. It won't be long though I'm sure as more and more people are taking this stuff there.