# Just how big a problem is online solicitation of minors for sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671 "2005-11-18T18:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/1 "2005-11-18T18:11:14Z")
We’ve all seen the TV ads warning parents of the dangers of their children being solicited for sex by adult strangers online. But how big of a problem is this, really? How often does it actually happen? And are the victims usually teenagers or pre-adolescent children? (Makes a big difference, IMO.) Also – how can it be successful? I can chat online with teengirl23 and call myself pimpleface69, and I can suggest we meet in real life, but as soon as she sees me she’s gonna know I’m no teenager. Why would she even stay for coffee? Perhaps this belongs in GQ, but it’s about a public issue and it’s bound to turn into a debate of some kind and there might not be any reliable factual answers anyway, so I’m starting it in GD; mods, please move it if you think appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/2 "2005-11-18T18:26:42Z")
[www.perverted-justice.org](http://www.perverted-justice.org) If the logs there are any indication, older men are not all that surprised to find younger teens in a receptive state for solitication to meet for sexual encounters. I’d surmise it’s happening a fair bit. And your concern about being revealed as not-so-pimply-faced69 is meaningless; these guys don’t pretend to be teens themselves; they present themselves as adults. Scary reading. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/3 "2005-11-18T18:35:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > [www.perverted-justice.org](http://www.perverted-justice.org) I think you meant to post perverted-justice. **com** , as the .org site is an anti-p-j site. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/4 "2005-11-18T18:38:13Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I think you meant to post perverted-justice. **com** , as the .org site is an anti-p-j site. D’oh! Yes, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/5 "2005-11-18T18:46:12Z")
Who says child molestation isn’t worth [a few laughs](http://www.shortandhappy.com/amber/index.htm)? –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/6 "2005-11-18T19:17:05Z")
In preactice, online solicitation of minors for sex is a negligable problem. Main problem for Chester the Molester: they need victims they can get easy physical access to. Odds are any prey they find on the Internet will be a long distance away. Chester would do better to find out where the sluttiest underage teens can be found locally, and show up with cash to make them more cooperative. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/7 "2005-11-18T19:25:35Z")
Almost without fail, when I hear of someone getting busted for acts of soliciting from a minor, it’s because a cop posed as a 13 year old girl in a chat room. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/8 "2005-11-18T19:28:11Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Almost without fail, when I hear of someone getting busted for acts of soliciting from a minor, it’s because a cop posed as a 13 year old girl in a chat room. And 4 times out of 5, the cop won’t even put out! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/9 "2005-11-18T19:29:57Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And 4 times out of 5, the cop won’t even put out! :mad: It’s my understanding that they’ll fuck you good. No wait… They’ll fuck you _up_. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/10 "2005-11-18T19:52:12Z")
I’m always sceptical of these “older men are stealing our children to be sex slaves!!” stories. People love to sensationalize crime, technology, sex, and threats to children, making the internet molesters luering children an irresistable topic for the media. My gut feel is that it’s a few isolated cases being blown out of proportion, rather then any sort of legitimate threat to the average US child. Anyone have any statistics? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/11 "2005-11-18T19:56:12Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Almost without fail, when I hear of someone getting busted for acts of soliciting from a minor, it’s because a cop posed as a 13 year old girl in a chat room. Sure. How else would they be getting busted? ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/12 "2005-11-18T20:05:13Z")
Dateline recently had a [great article](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9927253/) on-line about just this problem. It seems that there is more of this going on than one would think, and at least some people who solicit minors are (stupidly) fearless. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/13 "2005-11-18T20:10:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No wait… They’ll fuck you _up_. And they’ll do it good. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/14 "2005-11-18T20:15:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sure. > > How else would they be getting busted? I dunno. Mail order? ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/15 "2005-11-18T20:17:52Z")
Dateline recently had a [great article](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9927253/) on-line about just this problem. It seems that there is more of this going on than one would think, and at least some people who solicit minors are (stupidly) fearless. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/16 "2005-11-18T20:22:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I dunno. Mail order? Happens as well. [sup]\*[/sup] But then it falls out of the purview of “on-line solicitation,” doesn’t it? - Mail-order busts are more for child porn than for outright solicitation, I grant. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/17 "2005-11-18T20:27:23Z")
It was less shocking to see that kids were getting themselves into potentially sexual situations on line than it was to see the types of men who were drawn to children. They had counselors, rabbis, etc. The bit I saw of this on TV had a man who actually took his clothes off before he even met the person he was chatting on line with. IN THE KID’s HOUSE! I don’t think most of these people would have grabbed the kid and forced themselves on him or her, but the fact that there are that many people “in positions of trust” who are attracted to under-the-age-of-consent kids was a bit startling. How much was sensationalism? I don’t know. But what I saw surprised me. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/18 "2005-11-18T20:30:09Z")
I always figured it was mostly Sheriff’s Deputies posing as 13 year old girls not realizing they’re talking to Municipal cops pretending to be 14 year old girls, with the occassional 14 year old boy pretending to be a 33 year old man getting involved. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/19 "2005-11-18T20:31:09Z")
Ok, when I was 17 and young and naive (more so anyway), there were \*plenty \* of guys who \*knew \* I was 17 and freely admitted their age and tried to get it on with me. I don’t really think 17 fits into the whole pedophile category, though. 17 is quite old enough to be sexually active…whether they should be that is another matter of course. From what I saw, though, it was mostly adolescent and teen children these guys targeted. Buuuuut…I wasn’t online until my teens. (I don’t really think pre-teen kids should have unmonitored Internet access, anyway.) so I never hung out where there were a whole bunch of little kids, anyway. Way too cool for that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671/20 "2005-11-18T20:47:58Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If the logs there are any indication, older men are not all that surprised to find younger teens in a receptive state for solitication to meet for sexual encounters. > > I’d surmise it’s happening a fair bit. > > And your concern about being revealed as not-so-pimply-faced69 is meaningless; these guys don’t pretend to be teens themselves; they present themselves as adults. !!! [heavens open, shaft of light shines down on **BrainGlutton’s** head, choir of angels sings, “Alleluia!”] 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-big-a-problem-is-online-solicitation-of-minors-for-sex/331671.md?page=2)