Boone County Sheriff’s Office partners with Southern Boone School District, discusses importance of online safety

ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)

Many cases dealing with the sexual exploitation of minors that the Boone County Cyber Crimes Task Force investigates occurs on social media or apps, according to Det. Andrew Evans.

Evans has worked for the task force since 2014.

During a parent session at the Southern Boone Middle School Monday night, Evans emphasized the importance of parents making sure they monitor their children's social media. He spoke to how easy it is for someone who wants to to talk to children within certain smartphone applications to do so, and said some applications like "SnapChat" don't have a place to verify the age of a person signing up.

During the meeting, Evans put up a series of app logos on a screen and asked a group of roughly 40 parents if they knew each application.

Many parents were unaware of apps such as "Kik" or "Discord." For those reasons, Evans said he recommends parents of students within any district take the steps to become more involved.

"I think some parents just don't realize how you know, what threats are actually online," Evans said. "You know, I think there's just a lot of things that certain platforms that may seem innocent. A lot of like online Xbox or Playstation games that was see you know, exploitation cases on these."

Evans also said a recent trend has shown minors being exploited on "Cashapp."

Evans said he recommends parents take the following steps to keep their children from falling victim:

• Know the password to your child's phone;
• Have open and difficult conversations with your children, or find someone who is able to;
• Double-check the capabilities of each application on the youth's phone;
• Listen to your children.

Evans said shutting your children out is never the answer.

"I think if your child says something, take them at their word, maybe reach out to some experts in the field if they need assistance with that," Evans said. "The big thing is just be a part of their life and check in on them. Just don't send them to a room, close the door and let the social media or that cell phone baby sit them."

Monday's session follows a series of arrests at the Southern Boone Middle School in September, after several students were arrested for allegedly making terroristic threats in separate incidents. Evans briefly discussed the consequences students can face after making a school threat Monday night.

One parent voiced her concerns at the end of the meeting, saying she felt the topic was over-looked. She asked what consequences students can face as adults if they make a threat. Another parent asked why certain students allegedly involved in September's threats faced different consequences.

Evans responded by saying it depends on the severity of each threat and said the juvenile office handles the consequences.