Mom goes undercover to catch child predators online
Roo Powell discusses her role identifying online threats in new docuseries ‘Undercover Underage.’
Roo Powell, a mom of three from Connecticut, has been posing as a teenager to combat cyber creeps – and she is not alone.
The founder of Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA), a nonprofit that supports survivors, spearheads child abuse prevention initiatives and advocates for a safer internet, is back for season 2 of "Undercover Underage."
The Investigation Discovery (ID) true-crime series follows the 40-year-old as she transforms herself into an underage persona while her team tracks down suspects before they discover Powell is not who she claims to be.
Roo Powell and her SOSA team are back for season 2 of "Undercover Underage." (ID)
Powell told Fox News Digital the new season explores some of the most "heartbreaking cases" she has come across. One alleged offender works with foster children, she said.
"I remember when he was being interviewed, he had this realization where he said, ‘I am who I protect kids from,’" Powell recalled. "That’s a really hard pill to swallow… When we think about people who are serving the community, their lives are dedicated to helping children. Instead, they prey on them. That’s some of the most disheartening stuff we’ve seen."
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Roo Powell team also works closely with local law enforcement. (ID)
"Perpetrators could be anyone," she shared. "We have had perpetrators who, truthfully, are people I would have never assumed. These are family men, people who love their wives and kids. People who are well-respected members of communities. We’ve had camp counselors, medical professionals, teachers, and white-collar workers who are conventionally attractive. It could just be anyone, which I think is the scary part. You just never know what somebody’s doing online when you’re not next to them at work or the grocery store."
Roo Powell has recruited several actresses to pose as teenage girls online. (ID)
"We have this idea of the troll under the bridge – but it could be anyone," she added.
"Undercover Underage" was renewed amid the conviction of Daniel Bowling, who was featured in the second episode of the series, Deadline reported. According to the outlet. Bowling was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by two years of sex offender probation and forfeiture of electronics. He will also be placed on the sex offender registry.
The series explores how predators waste no time sending private messages to one of Powell's profiles. Once an adult engages with a decoy, she communicates with the individual via texts, calls and even video chats to gather as much information as possible about their real identities. During the process, the decoy is filmed from a staged bedroom. She also uses a variety of lighting, wigs and filters to hide her real age and appear more youthful.
The decoys are women in their 20s. (ID)
Every adult who makes contact is explicitly told they are speaking to an underage girl, allowing them to cease communication at any point. However, many still choose to proceed with explicit exchanges.
During filming, the decoys careful conceal their true identities. (ID)
In the new season, Powell recruits several actresses to step in as additional trained decoys. According to Powell, the women are always accompanied by her, and they can leave without question if the scenarios become too overwhelming. In one of the profiles, a decoy poses herself to be as young as 12.
"There’s a lot of prep that goes into it because we need to make sure our stories are buttoned up," she explained. "The last thing we want is for a perpetrator to be suspicious and bail when we know the person is going around online and looking for kids to abuse."
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According to Roo Powell, the decoys create "a layered life" online as their teenage personas. (ID)
"Before anyone joins SOSA, they’re very aware of what can happen, what they’re up against," Powell shared. "These are women in their 20s who, frankly, are not too far from remembering what it was like to get a random message on Instagram from somebody who didn’t have their best intentions at heart. I think it was tough for me to walk them through this because I know how awful these conversations can be, and I am asking another person to have to deal with that as well… [But] they know the effects of what this arrest would mean and how many kids they could potentially end up helping."
Season 2 takes the crew to a new state that has an established Internet Crimes Against Children team. SOSA also shares its research and evidence with local law enforcement. Powell stressed that whenever her team places a decoy in town, they notify the police.
"A lot of times, maybe the assumption is that because a child is younger, or they’re prepubescent, maybe they’re not a target," said Powell. "But the predators we spoke with, they were looking and targeting children as young as two. I think that’s going to be shocking and upsetting for viewers to see. But I also think it’s an important truth that needs to be told."
According to Roo Powell, right, the decoys can back out anytime without question if the situation gets too overwhelming for them. (ID)
Gone are the days when online sex offenders solely resorted to chat rooms, Powell said.
"When we put decoys online, we wait for them to come to us," she explained. "People like to ask, ‘Is it Snapchat? Is that the worst? Is it Reddit? That’s the worst.’ Truthfully, abuse can happen on any platform where there is the opportunity to talk to a minor. For example, I was speaking with a safety team of an app that’s dealing with predation. They’re trying to put some systems into place to prevent it. It’s a coloring book app. We always think, especially parents, you hand your kid an iPad, your kid’s four years old, and they want to color. All these things seem so innocuous – coloring books, video games, Minecraft. But, if there’s an opportunity to communicate, then there’s also an opportunity to abuse."
Some parents may be wary of handing a smartphone to their children. However, Powell pointed out that this alone will not solve an ongoing problem.
"We're training decoys to know their backgrounds really well," Roo Powell told Fox News Digital. "Someone who is a decoy has to be able to answer a question on the spot. What's your birthday? What's your astrological sign? What are your parents' names? What do they do for a living? Do you have a little brother or sister? What's your cousin's name? All these things make up a kid's life." (ID)
"I respect that decision, but even in schools, my kids submit all of their homework via their school-issued laptops," she said. "And even if your kids don’t have devices, they hang out with friends that do. So regardless of whether you’re strict at home or a child has a device, I think it’s important to teach internet safety. It permeates our daily lives. I always say that the best way to prevent online sex abuse is to have open conversations with your child about it regularly. It’s not just a one-and-done thing."
"There also needs to be conversations about what to do if something happens," she said. "I say, don’t react in a way that would make a kid feel ashamed or feel guilty. Ultimately, these are kids and these are abusers, master manipulators… The wrong move for a parent would be, ‘I’m just going to take your phone away’ or get angry with them for being tricked in some way. All that does is prevent a kid from going to a parent or going to an adult to talk about this. So talk a lot about not blaming… We need to make sure that we’re there for them."
Powell said she hopes the series will "inspire stronger or better legislation around online predation and grooming laws."
"These predators come from all sorts of upbringings, all sorts of like economic statuses, all sorts of political and cultural backgrounds," said Roo Powell. (ID)
"This is not just a problem for teenage girls or a specific slice of the community," she said. "It’s important for all of us to be aware of, all of us who want to protect kids."
Season 2 of "Undercover Underage" premieres May 1 at 9 p.m. If you or someone you know is suffering from abuse, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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