TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The exposure of an online pedophile network shows that the threat to children can come at any time, anywhere. The people closest to them--family and neighbors--who should protect children, can sexually assault them. In the most recent case, these predators raped children, taped the act, then distributed the video recordings over the Internet. One person admitted that the victim was the child of a neighbor who had been tempted by money, food and games.
The police have arrested four members of the online pedophile ring who managed groups on Facebook and WhatsApp. These groups had thousands of members across the country and overseas. Loly Candy's Group, set up to allow pedophiles to make friends on Facebook, had 7,479 members. Ten chatrooms on WhatsApp had more than 1,000 followers.
It was through these chatrooms that the predators shared pictures and videos. The administrators laid down detailed rules. One was that members were not allowed to be passive--merely 'enjoying' pictures and videos but they should contribute to the collection. The police are still investigating the possibility that the perpetrators acted as 'pimps', using children as bait for predators.
Some posts to the group even referred to a code on how consumers can 'order' children, but it has not been confirmed whether these transactions were actually carried out. The police must trace and establish the truth behind all this. The motive of personal pleasure claimed by the perpetrators must not simply be taken at face value. Setting up an international network needs both funds and connections. It is unlikely for poorly educated and underage perpetrators to do all this on their own. The police must work with the FBI, which provided the initial information about the ring.
The police must discover the mastermind behind the network. It is not impossible that there was a large economic motive behind it. The possibility that there was a human trafficking aspect must also be considered. If the conversations in the WhatsApp group about 'ordering' children can be proven, it is not impossible that children were also bought and sold.
Those proven guilty must be severely punished. Any underage perpetrators must be tried at a juvenile court so their rights as underage criminals are not violate.
From these perpetrators, the police must compile a list of people who prey on children. Their movements must be recorded and monitored. The pedophiles' room to move must be restricted and most specifically, they cannot remain among children.
The government should establish rehabilitation centers, like those for drug addicts. In many cases, those pedophiles were themselves victims of sexual abuse when they were young. The chain of violence must be broken. The government should involve doctors and psychologists in this endeavor.
Without a comprehensive solution, sexual abuse of children will become a latent threat. Exposing one such group will not stop another from emerging the next day. The Internet makes it easy for them to spread information about victims. Parents and neighbors need to be more vigilant while the government needs to provide a continuous stream of information about the dangers of sexual predators preying on children. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
