A mother who fears her teenage son may have died following an online challenge gone wrong has welcomed a High Court decision to order a new inquest into his death. Ellen Roome, whose 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in April 2022, said she hopes it will be a “turning point” in making the “online world...Read More
PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WPDE) — Angry church members confronted their pastor during a heated meeting after learning that a registered sex offender had been volunteering at Pawley’s Island Community Church and around children, despite restrictions meant to keep him from being alone with minors. Church volunteer Warren Perry was convicted in 2023 of sexual exploitation...Read More
Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into TikTok’s child safety measures. The regulator is questioning whether TikTok’s age verification system accurately identifies under-18 users. Companies found to have breached the Online Safety Act could face fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of global revenue. TikTok is facing a formal UK investigation...Read More
(InvestigateTV) — Reports of suspected child sex trafficking to a national tipline have increased nearly 1,000 percent following implementation of a federal law requiring online platforms to report suspected crimes, according to lawmakers and child safety advocates. The bipartisan REPORT Act requires certain online platforms to report suspected child sex trafficking and online enticement to...Read More
WILKES-BARRE — A Lehigh County man did not contest being found a violent sexual predator prior to being sentenced for sexually assaulting a girl for years when he lived in the Hazleton area. Hien Ngoc Nguyen, 43, of Laurys Station, initially did not apologize until Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael T....Read More
Concerns that TikTok might be failing in its duties relating to the safeguarding of children on its platform have prompted the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, to launch an investigation into the platform. Specifically, the regulator is looking at whether TikTok has failed, or is currently failing, to comply with requirements outlined in Section 12 of...Read More
WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. — A Chatsworth man has been arrested after investigators say he tried to meet someone he believed was a 14-year-old for sexual purposes. The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office says its Special Victims Unit wrapped up the operation Thursday. Investigators arrested Shawn Ridner and charged him with sexual exploitation of children under Georgia...Read More
The House of Representatives recently passed a bipartisan online child safety package. But the debate isn’t about child safety alone. It’s about preemption. The legislation is part of an ongoing national conversation over Big Tech’s outsized influence on children’s mental health, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, and the role parents should play as these...Read More
WAGONER COUNTY, Okla. — The Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Tulsa man they say was part of an online child predator operation. According to authorities, the Wagoner County Invesitgators conducted an undercover operation using a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl online on May 30 at 10:30 p.m. The profile of the decoy...Read More
LAKE WORTH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Lake Worth man’s alleged plan to meet a 13-year-old for sex backfired inside a Dollar General when web vigilantes trapped him for Delray Beach police. Officers with the Delray Beach Police Department say they responded to the store at 1230 West Lincoln Blvd. in the Delray Crossing Shopping Center....Read More
