WHO-TV, IA
07-26-07
ISU Professor Fighting Internet Sex Crimes
July 25, 2007--Researchers at Iowa State University are working on developing a
way to keep your children safe from online predators. Professors at Iowa State's
School of Journalism are teaming up with software engineers to crack down on
internet sex crimes.
Researchers say what began as research into the dialogue sexual predators
have with children online, could prove to be more important. That research may
actually help create software to keep your children safe online.
Chad Harms at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication has
been heading up the research portion of this project. He and some of his
assistants have been researching thousands of online chats that minors engaged
in with sexual predators. Harms say the research helps to identify patterns and
techniques of coercion.
"As they are gathering this information they are also trying to gain that trust and
gain that connection so that they can eventually start testing the limits of that
relationship by introducing sex into the topic, by asking for a photograph of some
type," says Harms.
The research will be a useful tool for parents or even law enforcement, Harms
hopes. Say a predator tried to make contact with a minor on a social network
site like MySpace or Facebook, the software could determine if a conversation or
chat was unsuitable for a minor.
The research is only in the beginning phases, but Professor Harms believes if he
is awarded a grant for the research, such software could be available in a couple
years.