Every year approximately 1.3 million kids run away from home.  Research indicates that about 1 out of 6 kids who run away will be a victim of sex trafficking or sexual exploitation within the first 48 hours.  In 2014 Million Kids developed the MILLION KIDS MISSING KIDS program to support parents, law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We get the word out about local missing children and teens, and help accelerate the location and return of runaway and missing kids.  Thanks to Million Kids followers, we have been involved in the location and return of many kids who otherwise might have not been found.  We could not do this without your prayers and financial support.

On this weeks show we will explore why kids run away.  Often it is out of curiosity to meet up with someone they met on a chat room, dating site or hook up app and an anticipated quick encounter turns to heinous exploitation.  Sometimes a young person develops a deep seated fantasy about a person they have been connected to online and they are convinced they are in love, but they are unable to realize the devious nature of the person they are meeting.  Sometimes it is an escape from abuse or violence in the home.  Sometimes it is because of alcohol and substance abuse.  Sometime it is out of feelings of fear, anger or feelings of failure.

It is every parent's worst nightmare.  Thank you for support the work of Million Kids Missing Kids so we can support the parents and grandparents who are praying for a child's safe return.

This week we examine the case of missing 16-year-old teen, Kaylee Jones, who may be in a dangerous situation after meeting strangers on the hook up app, Omegle, and exchanging personal information including where she lived.

On June 14, Kaylee climbed out of her second story window of their home in the middle of the night,  purportedly to meet up with individuals she met online and she has been missing ever since.  According to Fox News, her parents believe their daughter may be a human trafficking victim.

We will also look at the potential dangers when parents post cute and entertaining videos of their toddlers on live streaming apps like TikTok.  The mother of  3-year-old "Wren Eleanor" had made her little daughter into a TikTok star with over 17 million followers.  

But wait!

Suddenly when looking deeper into her following, she discovered that videos of the 3 year old girl in a cropped shirt was specifically saved 45,000 times and videos of her eating a hot dog or pickle was saved 375,000 times.  According to an article on Fox News, videos and photos can be saved on Tik Tok and other social media accounts, but predators can use a smartphone's screen recording feature to record and screen shot content directly to their phones without being traced.

Few parents and grandparents understand the world of online pedophilia and realize how vulnerable our kids are to being accessed, groomed, recruited, and exploited.  In the case of toddlers and small children, predators and pedophiles are experts at obtaining seemingly innocent photos and photo shopping them to be bought, sold and traded to global pedophile rings operating in the Dark Net.

HELP FIND KAYLEE

Kaylee is described as 5 ft. 8 in. tall, weighing 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Her mother believes she may have a dark blue book bag "with a horse on the front." She may be wearing black tennis shoes or converse sneakers, according to authorities.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Kaylee's whereabouts to contact Investigator Kim Biggs at 770-830-5916 or [email protected].

It seems like everyday we are inundated with riveting videos of the latest smash and grab at a big retailer, or a shooting at a public event, school or mall, and or thousands of foreign nationals crossing our border illegally.  Social media, video on demand, and being globally connected has changed our world completely. Graphic and immediate images from around the globe,  impact how we perceive crime, how individual criminals find each other online and join a "swarm" to loot an upscale retailer.  It also changes how law enforcement agencies use technology to investigate and prosecute criminals.

This week's broadcast focuses on the psychological impact of being globally connected.  Terrorists no longer just plant a bomb and run away.  Rather, they film themselves in the act so individuals around the world are instilled with the fear and reality of the power of terrorism.

Large scale smash and grab rings often begin by a posting on social media and hundreds of individuals will show up to stores like Nordstroms or Best Buy to create a "swarm" of looting. Earlier this year over 80 individuals showed up at Nordstroms to loot and devastate the store  as Security Personnel had no choice but to watch.  The entire event was over in under 5 minutes.  The criminals were recruited online using social media.  These criminal activities are far different than organized crime where criminals had personal relationships which law enforcement could build a case and prosecute.

Using social media to recruit individuals to join a smash and grab operation means that the individuals will not know each others names or contact information and they are most often only together for under 20 minutes and quickly disperse.  Impromptu mass criminal operations are difficult for law enforcement to investigate since most often the criminals don't know each other and have no obvious connection except for responding to a social media announcement.

This week we look at the power and challenges of social media in crime and crime solving.

So often we hear older people today long for a world that is more certain, more predictable, more in line with the “Old Fashioned” values. Technology has brought the world closer together than at any time in history. It can be both good and bad. Social media allows friends and families enjoy the details of a life, even if they live thousands of miles away.

However, it can also be unsettling and even offend our sense of right and wrong.  When a terrorist throws a bomb, they no longer instigate the destruction and walk away. No, today, we live in an instantaneous world where criminals film their acts as they are running away and hundreds of media outlets play and replay scenes of destruction, so we all can experience it firsthand, as if it happened to us. It disrupts our sense of safety, security and most important it disrupts our sense of predictability.

Twenty-four-hour live streaming and a saturation of social media and barrage of new and violent sexual images buried in our children’s online gaming means that our families are no longer just influenced by “family values” but rather strive to compete in a world of animation and competition to be a rising Tik Tok star or global gaming champion.

This brings us to the question: Is there such a thing as “Digital Morality”? There is a feeling in our society that if it is done online it does not count. It does not have to be true. It doesn’t have to be real. It doesn’t matter if it is fair or unfair. There is no right or wrong. It is only a game. It is only a video. In a world of “likes” and “shares” and “tweets” and “avatars” parents are challenged to raise young people with solid moral values. This is a discussion every parent should have before they are given devices where they have to make decisions about their moral code nearly every day.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE THE WORLD BUT JUST DID NOT KNOW HOW TO

USE YOUR TALENTS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?

YOU WILL WANT TO HEAR OUR GUEST LINDA LATTIMORE

[email protected]

Linda is a seasoned lawyer, C-Suite executive, global business strategist, author and social entrepreneur. Linda provides personal counseling, corporate counseling and group training programs to help individuals understand their strengths and talents and how to use those assets to make a positive difference in the world around them.  

She believes that you can fill your heart account as full as your bank accounts!  Linda has authored a best selling book sold on Amazon titled "Solutionaries, You are the Answer!"  This book takes you through the process to help you discover your talents, gifts and skills, ones that make you uniquely qualified to lead and pursue your passion. Linda also works with corporations and philanthropic foundations to assist them in defining social impact strategies that support their business strategies. Linda is the founder of Cross Sector Institute, Solutionaries Academy and the WGN Global Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit supporting women and teen girls interested in social enterprise as a vehicle for change. 

California SB 357 had passed the House and the Assembly last October and was held for nine months on Sen. Weiner's desk because of the controversies surrounding the bill.  The bill is sponsored in part by groups supporting gay and transgender rights and Sen Weiner said that he waited to send the measure to Gov. Newsom until Pride Month. The bill was also created to protect women of color that may be loitering for the purposes of prostitution from being targeted by Law Enforcement according to many supporters of the measure.  SB 357 is designed to repeal the penal code and make it so law enforcement will not be able to intervene in any situation where the individual may be loitering for the purposes of soliciting prostitution.

THIS BILL IS EXPECTED TO BE SIGNED BY GOV. NEWSOM WITHIN THE NEXT 10 DAYS, IN ESSENCE LEGALIZING STREET PROSTITUTION IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

Please listen to this important broadcast. (being sent later by AM 590)   Million Kids predicts that this bill will change the very fabric of our society.  There are no provisions for truly protecting anyone, man, woman, gay, trans or straight.   It simply states that law enforcement will not be able to intervene when someone is loitering to sell sex on the streets of California.

That means that sex sellers (and pimps) from all over the world can come to California and sell sex (and send the money back to China or Eastern Europe).  Homeless people will be the most victimized as they are desperate for income and living on the street.  With open borders, foreign nationals in need of immediate capital will be targeted.  Most important there are no restrictions on where the loitering can take place.  Loitering for prostitution will be legal in front of schools, churches, private businesses, schools  and our homes and in front of our children.

Million Kids has been educating and combating sex trafficking in California for over twelve years.  Never in our lifetime did we think we would see so many people who will be at great risk of exploitation.  And this bill means, law enforcement will not be able to intervene.  Our hearts are saddened at the number of people who will be exploited all the while telling the public they are "SAFER".

Let’s face it. We are all guilty of checking our phone or doing a sneak peak at our texts on a regular basis. So, at what point does it move from over usage into a full-blown addiction? Researchers indicate that 83% of teens sleep with their phone and there is an older UK study that say as many as 25% of adults will answer their phone while having sex. The same study indicated that one in five people would rather go without their shoes for a week rather than take a break from their cell phone. Another study states that people touch their cell phone more than they touch their partners.

Really? Why is this?

Whenever you get a text, email or comment on a posted selfie, your dopamine signals in your brain increase. These neurotransmitters are associated with pleasure. However, the positive reaction is only temporary and as the feel-good dopamine wears off, you will go back to the source.  Remember the story of Pavlov’s Dog. Every time we hear the buzz of a text or magical music of an incoming call, the sounds take us out of our mundane lives and reenforces our sense of importance.  It is no wonder Sean Parker when he was Facebook, described it as a “social validation feed back loop”.

Get this! There is even a vocabulary for it.

Nomophobia: the abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone” phobia. The fear of going without your phone

Textraphrenia: A stage of thinking where you believe you heard a message come in or a device vibrate when it actually did not.

FOMO: Fear of Missing out.

For years Million Kids has been educating parents and teens about how not to be blackmailed or scammed on dating sites, hook up sites and mass audience apps. Lately, it seems that there are more and more cases where adults experience the same kind of exploitation when they turn to the Internet to find their one and only love, or at least a BFF.

During this week’s show we explore some of the hot buttons that will alert you to sit up and be careful with an online relationship.

1. When you meet on a dating site, they quickly want you to go off the chat and go onto a private chat.

2. When you meet on one app, they quickly move you to another app.

3. They very quickly accelerate the relationship, falling in love

4. They suggest that the relationship is secret and not to tell

5. They start sending sensuous photos and asking for yours.

6. They start acting sexual while you are live streaming.

7. They ask your age and suggest they might be older (for kids).

8. They ask all the questions, and you give all the answers.

9. They want to meet up.

10. They start sending you gifts or money.

11. They ask you for money.

12. They ask you for preloaded gift cards.

13. They look just too good to be true or may be using a fake identity.

This is one of the most important shows we have ever produced. We are asking YOU to contact Gov. Newsom and stop the defunding of the Crimes Against Children’s Task Forces all over the state. That’s right.  We must raise our voices and tell the Governor how important it is that our state fund child sex crimes investigations. Currently the 2022-2023 state budget EXCLUDES funding for California ICAC Task Forces.

Our guest today is Chief Billy Green, Fontana Police Department. The Fontana ICAC unit has conducted over 800 criminal investigations related to child sex crimes, served hundreds of search warrants and investigated nearly 700 cyber tips related to online child exploitation cases connected to the Inland Empire. They have just learned that their Task Force (and five other California ICAC Task Forces) have been omitted from Gov. Newsom’s new budget.  Without funding, the unit will not be able to continue their important work.

Why is ICAC so critical? The California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces investigates child abuse cases, online sextortion (blackmail) cases, child pornography and pedophilia cases. Never has this been more needed.

The past two years, literally millions of young people went online, many without supervision and many too young to understand why a pedophile wants to connect with a naïve child and groom them to send an illicit photo. At the same time, large scale, global pedophile rings developed in the Dark Net using the internet to connect and share images of violated children. Pedophiles use technology to access, groom, and exploit millions of kids through apps, chatrooms, dating sites, hook up sites and online gaming. A suggestive photo sent by a child to what they believe to be a new friend, can be shared with over 500,000 pedophiles in less than a day. The child will never be able to get the photo back. It will change their lives (and the lives of their family) forever.

Without the proper funding for technology, resources and training, these cases may not be investigated and prosecuted effectively. Please listen to this show and contact your legislators to let them know just how critical the ICAC funding is to keep our kids safe from predators. Thank you.  

HELP US TAKE ACTION TO STOP THIS TRAVESTY!

PLEASE PHONE OR EMAIL ASAP!

Gov. Gavin Newsom

[email protected]

916-445-2841

__

CA State Assembly

Committee on Budget

[email protected]

916-319-2099

__

CA State Senate

Budget Committee

[email protected]

916-651-4103

SEEKING MORE INFORMATION: DE WAYNE WILLIAMS, CODY HANSEN, CHRISTOPHER LAUDERDALE

This week we will be looking at several new human trafficking and potential child pornography cases from Riverside County and surrounding counties and asking the public to come forward if you have more information regarding the individuals or potential cases.

Please note: These charges are alleged, and each individual deserves due process before determining guilt or innocence.

DeWayne Williams

Accused of sex trafficking at least 7 juvenile victims, Indio suspect nabbed at border checkpoint – Riverside County News Source

DeWayne Williams was apprehended at the San Ysidro border crossing attempting to cross into Mexico. Riverside County Anti Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT) had been conducting a sex trafficking investigation that occurred in the cities of Palm Desert, Indio and Desert Hot Springs, Mr. Williams has been arrested and charged with human trafficking of a minor, pandering of a minor, lewd acts with a minor and inducing a minor to consume narcotics. He is being held in lieu of $1 million in bail or bond. During the investigation seven young victims of trafficking were identified but authorities believe there may be more individuals involved. If you know anything regarding this case, please contact: RCAHT Task Force Investigator Damien Butvidas 760-836-1600 or call anonymously at 760-341-STOP (7867) and refer to the DeWayne Williams file.

Cody Hansen Desert Hot Springs Man Accused of Human Trafficking a Minor

DESERT HOT SPRINGS (CNS) – A 31-year-old man accused of human trafficking and giving fentanyl to a minor, among other crimes, was arrested

Anyone with additional information about the case was urged to contact Investigator Aron Wolfe of the sheriff’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force

Christopher Lauderdale

Christopher Lauderdale, (35 years old) Yucaipa resident, was arrested and accused of downloading and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Detectives with the Fontana Police Department served a search warrant at the home of Lauderdale where they seized multiple electronic devices from the home. Lauderdale was not home and was later arrested a few days later in Huntington Beach for possession and distribution of child pornography. Detectives discovered evidence that Lauderdale may have had access to a child during the search. 

If you have any information regarding Mr. Lauderdale or this situation, please contact the Fontana Police Department- Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. You may email them at [email protected].

Again: All should be considered innocent until they have received due process and a final verdict.