Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Virtual 'Sweetie' Uncovered 1,000 Sexual Predators, Group Says

"Sweetie," the little virtual girl created by a Dutch charity to expose the problem of webcam child sex tourism.
Terre des Hommes
"Sweetie," the little virtual girl created by a Dutch charity to expose the problem of webcam child sex tourism.

A Dutch charity that aims to expose and end "webcam child sex tourism" says it lured tens of thousands of men from around the world to a website where they asked a lifelike, computer-generated 10-year-old Filipino girl named Sweetie to perform sex acts for money.

The charity, Terre des Hommes, said about 20,000 people — most of them men — "made approaches to the virtual girl" over a 10-week period from April to June, as NBC News writes,

Terre des Hommes says it was able to identify 999 men and 1 woman from among those who came to its sting site and has given Interpol its information about those people. The 1,000 come from 71 different nations, the organization says.

The BBC adds that "254 were from the U.S., followed by 110 from the U.K. and 103 from India."

CBS News writes that "it remains to be seen if any of the people identified will be prosecuted, but the research demonstrated that it is relatively easy to find and identify such adults."

Terre des Hommes defines webcam child sex tourism as "when adults pay to direct and view live-streaming video footage of children in another country performing sexual acts in front of a webcam."

It adds that:

-- "Sometimes parents or family members coerce children to engage in WCST. Sometimes children are trafficked and held captive in 'dens' with other kids who are forced to perform sexual acts in front of webcams. Sometimes child prostitutes sell webcam sex shows to predators around the world in order to supplement the income they make through street prostitution."

-- "Based on our research and the findings of Terre des Hommes Netherlands' partners in the field, the age of child victims of WCST ranges from 6 to 17 years old."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
Latest Stories