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(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show, Jonathon is joined by John DiGirolamo to discuss how predators use social media to exploit kids and teenagers, how kids subvert parental controls on devices like smartphones and tablets, and what parents can actually do to protect their kids.

Check out DiGirolamo’s work, including his new book It’s Not About the Predator, by clicking here.

Through his research, DiGirolamo has found a strong connection between immersion in pornography, suffering emotional or sexual abuse, and becoming a child predator. He also has found that many child predators do not appear to be child predators on the outside.

“We’re seeing that person wanting to live out those fantasies, and they’re seeking underage teens in order to do that,” he says. “And they may want to do things that maybe their spouse doesn’t want to do, and that ‘sex buyer’ is not somebody who you can just kind of pick out of a lineup. It’s typically a middle-aged man who’s middle class, is married, has a job, many times has kids, looks to be somebody who blends into society.”

DiGirolamo argues that boys can be targeted by child predators just as much as girls.

A lot of people think that, ‘Well, I have sons. I don’t really need to worry about that.’ And that’s just not true at all,” he says. “[A] typical tactic of a predator is to set up a fake profile of a good-looking, college-age woman. And that person has nude pictures of themselves. And it’s probably something they’ve downloaded from pornography. They’ll send it to the boy and say, ‘Hey, here’s my picture, I’ve sent it to you. Now you show me.’ They convince him to send a picture to ‘her,’ or whoever the fake profile is. They’ll send that picture and immediately get extorted. And the officer said that many times all [of] that happens within 24 hours.”

Listen to Jonathon’s interview with John DiGirolamo below. You will also hear DiGirolamo’s practical advice for protecting your kids, which doesn’t just involve installing a digital parental control and hoping it works out for the best. It involves proactive monitoring and taking the time to explain to your child why it’s necessary.

The Van Maren Showis hosted on numerous platforms, including Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.

For a full listing of episodes, and to subscribe to various channels, visit our Acast webpage here.

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