Dr. Robert Whitfield warns that online predators target both boys and girls through grooming, extortion, and blackmail. He describes a case where a teenage boy took his own life after being coerced online, and explains how predators use the "Romeo" tactic, posing as boyfriends to gain trust before trafficking victims.
Have, like I said, a daughter that's 17. And I was just talking to her and some of her friends about it, that, hey, if you're ever in a situation, please let me know. And because we just heard of a young man, a young teen male that, you know, committed suicide because he had been approached by people online. And what they do is they have them and male and female do things online with them and then they say, if you don't give us money, we're going to tell your parents, we're going to share this. So it really is a very serious issue. It does not know, you know, doesn't know geographic bounds or socioeconomic. It affects everyone. And I think one of the main things to know is that it doesn't just look one way. It's not always sometimes, but it's not always just your. You're taken and then trafficked. And that does happen. But it can also look like, you know, a quote unquote relationship. And that's hard for people to get their minds around. And that's what's called a Romeo, where they pose as their. Your boyfriend and then once you're attached to them, they end up trafficking you and it's hard to get out.
