Police advise parents to educate their children on the threats of online predators

Police are seeing an increasing number of instances where a sexual predator attempts to lure a child to take inappropriate photos of themselves and send them through social media.

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The Bellefontaine police department is asking that parents educate their children on the dangers of exchanges with unknown individuals on social media.

Sexual predator situations typically begin with the suspect preying on the child and starting an online conversation with them, Bellefontaine police said.

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After an online conversation, the predator will convince the victim through creative talk to send them sexually explicit photos of themselves.

If the predator receives photos, they will begin threatening to exploit the victim’s photos and spread them online if money is not sent to the suspect within a certain deadline.

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The Bellefontaine police department advises that parents ask their children if they have ever been asked to do this online.

Police also suggest that parents tell their children to let someone know immediately if they are ever asked to do this in the future.

Local law enforcement should be contacted right away if any proof of these instances is evident, police said.