ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — As News 8 reported earlier this week, a former teacher’s aide in the East Irondequoit School District was arrested for child pornography. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sat with News 8 to talk about some of the warning signs of online abuse, and some of the best deterrents.
The cyber tip line for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was created in 1998 as a way for the public to submit reports to the organization. John Shehan is a Senior Vice President.
“Our cyber tip line receives around 80,000 reports a day. Last year, we had 32 million reports total into the cyber tip line,” he said.
Shehan said those numbers are on a global scale, and the calls and tips keep the organization plenty busy.
“We work really closely with state, federal, and local law enforcement in New York, we work closely with the New York State Police Department,” he said.
Leonard Ortiz, Junior —a former teacher’s aide in East Irondequoit and Brighton— was arrested this week and charged with receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. Police say Ortiz allegedly had hundreds of images and videos on his phone, including some depicting the rape of young children. Shehan said much of the time, predators come from positions just like the one Ortiz had.
“It’s parents, it’s coaches, it’s teachers, again– people that are in positions of trust,” he said.
He also said some children are enticed into self-producing images. To avoid being exploited, Shehan said there is a first-rate deterrent to avoid being exploited.
“One of the best safety tips you can have is a parent interacting with youth (with) an open line of communication,” he said.
He said overall, this all comes down to working together to break the cycle of abuse.
“We can get the information to law enforcement to make sure those who are doing the extorting are held accountable,” he said.
Shehan said they can also help get content removed from the internet should images or videos go online. You can also call 1-800-THE-LOST 24 hours a day to file a report on a missing or exploited child.
