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How do sexual predators target children online and what are ways to keep your child safe?

Maumee foster father Jeremy Chesser allegedly posed as a minor online to trick children into sending him explicit photos.

WOOD COUNTY, Ohio — Jeremy Chesser, a Maumee foster parent and Springfield Township firefighter, is in Lucas County Jail after he was arrested and charged Wednesday with receiving and distributing child pornography.

Following his arrest, the foster children were removed from his home and he was placed on unpaid administrative leave from his job. 

According to court documents, he pretended to be a minor in order to get children, some of whom he formerly fostered, to send him photos of themselves.

WTOL 11 spoke with Sgt. Ryan Richards, a detective with the Wood County Sheriff's Office, about the dangers present on social media and what parents and children can do to stay safe.

"There is a world out there that not many know about, and this world is a very dark place," Richards, who has worked on internet crime cases for the past five years and dealt with alleged predators like Chesser before, said.

He said child predators use social media apps that are popular among minors.

"You have Kik, Whisper, Omegle, Snapchat -- that's a big one --, TikTok," Richards said.

Kik is the messaging app that Chesser was using to communicate with an undercover FBI agent posing as another parent, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. Chesser sent sexual images of minors to the agent and graphically described sexual acts he had done with children.

The initial contact between predator and child typically begins with a friendly message where the predator poses as a child. And if the child responds, the grooming process has already begun.

It starts with them sending kids a friendly message, often pretending to be someone their age, and if the child responds, then the grooming process has already begun.

"They know the keywords to use, they know how to get the child engaged and they've done it enough and eventually they will come across some child they will get what they want out of," Richards said.

It can also extend to tricking the child into they're in an online relationship. From there, the predator may ask the child for sexual photos of themselves or even meet in person.

Federal, state, and local agencies are constantly monitoring every corner of the internet for suspect behavior and people who may be trying to solicit photos or other things from children, similar to the FBI agent who was communicating with Chesser.

Richards said the first line of defense starts at home with the parents. Monitoring your child's online activity can work, but simply being direct is also an option.

"I think just engaging in what they're doing on their phone and being interested in what they're interested in might be helpful down the line," he said.

And perhaps most important is educating your kids that the internet isn't necessarily as safe as it might seem on the surface.

"There's a part of this, an evil out there, that exists for a certain demographic of kids," Richards said. "Just be aware of that and if something doesn't seem right, let your parents know."

A person convicted of possessing child pornography can receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. But the harm child sex crimes cause the victims can last a lifetime, Richards said.

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