We are continuing to look at lures used by child predators to cause children to lower their guards.

Authority Lures

This lure involves a predator posing as a person of authority. It usually involves a uniform or a badge of some type. The could be posing as police officers, firemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses or some other authority figure.

Name Recognition Lure

One method child predators use is the knowledge of the child’s name. By calling the child by his name, the child believes the predator is someone who must know him, so he drops his guard. Children should be taught that strangers may learn their names fairly easily and that doesn’t mean they actually know them. It is also advisable to make sure the child’s name is not clearly visible on their possessions or clothing.

Toy Lure

This lure involves an adult playing with a toy by himself. This should be recognized as a danger by itself. The adult might use some fancy item like a remote control plane or car. The child sees it and is naturally drawn to it. The adult asks the child if he wants to try it and he is allowed to get too close. It might be something as simple as a Frisbee thrown near the child followed by asking the child to throw it back. That leads to a game of catch and the child drops their guard. We need to constantly remind our children to be weary of strangers in general, but particularly strangers with toys. We also need to remember that there are toys for children of all ages. Predators have been know to lure teenagers with “grown up” toys like motorcycles, boats, the latest sports car and other “grown up” toys.

Threat Lure

Another frequently used technique of the child predator is the threat of violence to the child or one of his family members. Children need to be instructed to tell their parents if any adult threatens or hurts them in any way. They should also understand that keeping secrets from their parents is something they should never do. By establishing this communication, the threats can be neutralized. We should also make sure our children keep their distance from strangers and to run away when they are threatened by an adult.

Extortion Lure

This lure involves the predator placing drugs, money or some other items where a curious child will see it and pick it up. Once they have picked the item up, the predator will ‘catch’ them with the item and tell them they are in big trouble unless they do what he wants. This is very similar to the threat lure. By being aware of this lure, children can be cautious in this type of situation. They also need to understand that just because something might look bad, they have nothing to fear when they haven’t done anything wrong.

Affection Lure

This is another particularly disturbing lure. By showing affection to the child over time, the child lowers his defenses and begins to trust the predator. While we want our children to welcome affection, we must always be aware that it is possible for them to be victimized by someone they know and trust.

This is the last of the articles on predator lures, but there are several other lures used by these child predators. If you would like to study this topic further, you can visit www.kidsafenetwork.com.

Donnie Chaffin,
3rd Dan