Feb 28, 2008 8:38 pm US/Eastern
Alarming Trend: Online Video Game Predators
Parents Urged To Get Involved; Playstation, XBox Don't Officially Monitor Play On Internet
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Playstation 3 game console (file)
CBS
Video games are becoming more and more interactive and more risky for your children. Often they are playing online against people all over the world. With that comes a greater risk for danger.
Najee Kennedy is 12 years old and loves the Playstation 3 game "Burnout Paradise." He plays against strangers he only knows by username and when he causes someone to crash, a webcam takes a snapshot of the player's reaction.
It was going great, until an alarming incident happened.
"I took him down and his picture just popped up," Najee said.
When asked what he saw in the picture, Najee responded, "His butt."
Najee's father, Charles Johnson, said the image showed a lot more than that.
"It was a picture of the guy mooning the camera, exposing his genitals," Johnson said.
The game is just a few weeks old, and Najee's father thought it would be fine for his son because it's rated E for everyone 10 years and older. Multi-player interactive games are huge and the largest growing segment of the gaming industry. While games are rated for violence and sexual content there's no official monitoring of the Internet aspect of the games.
"Computer game problems where predators are exposing them to children or grooming them for off-line meetings is a growing trend," said Parry Aftab, executive director of wiredsafety.org.
Aftab says parents need to monitor their kids.
"They're talking to people they may not know and those people may be fun or they may be predators who are trying to sexually exploit your child or hurt them one way or another," Aftab said.
Najee never told his father about the incident. Johnson only learned about it when a friend who was playing the game at the same time saw what happened and e-mailed him the pictures.
Aftab says boys rarely tell an adult when something sexual happens online and it's up to parents to make sure the kids know they need to tell and there won't be any ramifications when they do.
CBS 2 HD reached out to Sony for a comment on the story, but did not get a response. Meanwhile, the Essex County prosecutor's office says it will investigate what happened to Najee.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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