A Note from Sloane
It’s been a few days since I wrote about my experience working on a team that combats crimes against children. It feels a little as though I’ve cracked my chest open and I’ve been bleeding for people to see. But it also feels like those of you who read it have been bleeding along with me.
And part of me, truthfully, feels guilty about that. I’ve asked you to come along and buckle up and get traumatized with me. And you willingly have. You’ve raged along with me and cried along with me.
At this point, I’ve received thousands of emails and comments from you kind people. They’ve been notes of encouragement, prayers of endurance, and reminders to take care. Some of these messages have been heartbreaking — you or your loved one experienced grooming or predation in some way.
And there have been a lot of questions. I am doing my best to respond to all of them, but at the risk of sounding callous, I’d like to answer some of the more frequently asked ones here:
- Was Bailey’s account public?
For the sake of this one-week project, Bailey’s account was public, yes. However, in the nine months we’ve been working on this, we’ve experimented with our personas having accounts that are private and public. Adult men have still contacted these personas when the accounts have been set to private. A private account does not preclude one from receiving unwanted messages.
2. Why not try this experiment with a boy?
The simple answer is because I cannot. I am a woman, and am able to pass as a minor girl for a variety of reasons, least of which is some smoke-and-mirrors technology. I am unable to portray the persona of a minor boy. However — and this is really important for parents to know — predation absolutely happens to children regardless of gender.
3. What happens to these perpetrators?
The Bark Special Projects Team documents, records, and catalogues every online interaction. We work hand-in-hand with law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels regarding the requirements for prosecution, and share information that may lead to arrests. We are not able to comment on the status or results of every criminal prosecution. (I’m sorry if this is frustrating. I’d love to tell you that we’ve put X number of criminals behind bars.)
4. Can I join your company? (As an engineer or creative or as part of the Special Projects Team?)
This is high praise. When we have openings, we post job listings on LinkedIn.
5. What do I do if I think I’ve detected a case of child predation?
If you suspect that a child is being targeted by a predator, you can contact NCMEC (the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) via its CyberTipline, or call the FBI at 1–800-CALL-FBI.
6. Is your piece available in [another language]?
Within the next 24 hours, I’ll have a Spanish translation for you and will update here. (Update: here it is!)
7. How can I help?
This is the most generous offer of all. The Bark Team put together a list of resources for those of you who feel compelled to act.
Thank you again for reading, for sharing, for giving me (16 minutes of!) your time, for being moved to action, and for sending along your kind words. It means a lot to me personally, but also to the team as a whole who joins me in being incredibly grateful for your support.
If you’d like to get ahold of me, you can email me at sloane.ryan@bark.us.
