But computers -- and the Internet -- come with inherent dangers and serious risks, as last week's arrest of Mark Gary Bedford of Kingston revealed.
Bedford allegedly preyed on as many as 100 vulnerable teen and pre-teen girls across Canada and in England, by posing as their friend in Internet chatrooms.
Once he had gained the girls' confidence, he allegedly convinced them to expose themselves on a webcam, according to police statements following Bedford's arrest.
Exploiting children sexually, then distributing the images, is one of the most repugnant and disgusting abuses of the instant and anonymous nature of the Internet.
It has created a whole new class of criminal, who can only be tracked through cyberspace via highly sophisticated, labour-intensive police work. By its very nature, the Internet is a tough crime scene to effectively police. And police alone are not enough.
Allowing young kids to have unsupervised access to computers, especially in the privacy of their bedrooms, is highly inadvisable, police warn. Add access to a webcam and the potential for trouble only increases.
This week, parents across the country were chilled by the news of a massive manhunt -- which ended Tuesday on a farm in Saskatchewan -- for convicted pedophile Peter Whitmore, suspected of abducting two young boys.
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