ALASKA News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Parents and teachers alarmed by the news of a
substitute teacher arrested for possession of child pornography are
reminded to talk to kids about reporting abuse.
The investigation of the substitute teacher is ongoing and police
aren't sure if the images might lead to something more.
Detective Tammy Dunn says possessing child pornography is often a
precursor to child sexual abuse.
"Statistically it's basically like a stepping stone," Dunn said.
"They view it as the initial step to actually going towards harming an
actual child because that's kind of them testing the waters."
Keeping the threat out is different nowadays. With the Internet,
strangers can come into your home through the computer, but the same
conventional wisdom applies: Don't talk to strangers.
"With the Internet, the potential for them to come in contact with a
stranger is exponentially increased. There is no immediate consequence,
when kids are online, there's no (feeling) that something bad is
happening right now and they can tell that. There's a lot of grooming
that goes on -- that's industry lingo where adults who are targeting
children know what to tell a child to get them to communicate back,"
Dunn said.
But it's not just strangers who pose a threat.
Child counselors at Alaska CARES, a service which evaluates children
who may have been abused, points out that 95 percent of child abuse
cases involve someone the child knows.
"They are trusted adults that the families know and love. It can be
family members, friends, people in positions of authority -- coaches,
teachers, babysitters -- all people that, their role is designed to be
trusting and caring for children," said Erin Daniel with Alaska CARES.
The service tells parents to talk to their children often enough
about inappropriate touching that they both become comfortable
discussing it.
"One of the things that they talk about is secret touch, which allows
kids to kind of open up more if someone has told them not to tell
something, they can learn to talk about secret touches with mom or dad
or teacher," Daniel said.
Alaska CARES says it's never too early to teach children that there
are parts of their bodies that shouldn't be touched. They suggest
parents start the discussion when kids start learning about their body
parts.
Abused children often feel they should keep it a secret.
"If a child comes to their parent or trusted adult and says someone
has been touching them, it is very important that that adult stay calm
because a lot of times if a parent or adult has a very strong reaction,
the child's not going to continue talking. They don't want to make
parents or caregivers upset," Daniel said.
Social workers at Alaska CARES say children rarely make up abuse.
Sometimes they don't use words, but nonverbal cues can say that
something is wrong.
Police say there isn't a stereotypical sex offender, but that all too
often it's someone in a position of authority over a child. They say
offenders usually have a history of abusive behavior long before they're
caught.
If a child says they've been abused, a parent should let the child
know it was a good thing they told someone about it, social workers say.
Children often will stop talking about abuse if they feel like they are
in trouble or parents are upset about it.
Police say parents should not confront the accused person but should
call police or the Office of Children's Services to investigate.