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"Online videogames increase exposure to predators"

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Image credit: VG247

According to this, "Videogame systems provide a new opportunity for sexual predators to lure victims, investigators said."

"Authorities" have told the Cincinnati news channel that "pedophiles (sic) lurk online and communicate with children playing video games that allow players to speak to one another through headsets and instant messages."

Check the video out. Apparently, "sexual predators have a new playground: and it's right in the middle of your living room."

Even the FBI agrees.

“A pedophile [It's got an "a" in it - Ed] is talking to a child, they are gaining their trust and understanding, and then tries to engage in that next level, which is taking them from the cyber world to the physical world,” said Douglas Roden, an FBI forensic examiner.

It's all true. The report cites a case of a 30 year-old women that swapped nudey pics with a 16 year-old boy via Xbox Live.

“A gaming system was used to entice a child into producing child pornography,” Roden added.

We don't really know what to say.

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Patrick Garratt avatar
Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.
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