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Adults talk to children to abuse them. The documentary “Caught in the Net” proves what many parents fear.
“You know, I’d like to meet you in person. I will be very kind to you. Don’t be afraid, my dear.” A man between the ages of 50 and 60 is trying to encourage a 12-year-old girl to meet offline.
The good news first: the man is now behind bars. He chose the wrong girl. Because the twelve-year-old was not even a minor. Teresa is one of three Czech actresses featured in the investigative documentary Caught in the Net.
It’s shockingly fast
Director Barbora Chalopova and co-director Vet Klozak were specifically looking for young-looking adult women. The film crew then built a proper children’s room in the studio for each actress – as a deceptively realistic backdrop to their 10-day trip to the Internet.
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Appearances can be deceiving: This is not a 12-year-old girl in her bedroom, but an adult actress on the set.
Hypermarket Film / Milan Garros
Five minutes after Teresa uploaded her first profile picture to a Czech chatting platform, 16 contact requests had already been received. Almost exclusively by big men with clear intentions.
So the first video call ended just a minute later – a few seconds after the pressure guy had an erection. Teresa replied to her counterpart, who abruptly ended the conversation: “I thought we wanted to talk.” It shouldn’t be the only sexual harassment. In the vast majority of calls, unintended border crossings occurred.
Online dating in Switzerland
Children are increasingly exposed to sexual harassment online, including in Switzerland. Experts often use the English term “cybergrooming” to describe the phenomenon in one word. However, it is not really possible to grasp the problem in all its complexity.
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Of the 23 actresses invited to act, 19 reported their traumatic experiences online when they were children.
Hypermarket Film / Milan Garros
In the Swiss crime statistics for 2020, only 130 cases of online grooming appear. A low value, given the large number of unreported cases that most experts assume. In order to prevent the spread of cybergroomers in this country, the Swiss police mainly focus on prevention.
When asked, private investigator Cedric Merrat of the Bern Cantonal Police said: “We are educating our children to go to school and campaigning nationwide.” “But we also have professionals who pretend to be children online and help solve crimes by meeting with the perpetrators.”
Controversial course of action
Exactly such serious clashes outside the Internet also occur in the Czech documents. Mirat finds it very difficult to arrange these not by the police but by the film crew:
“In Switzerland, the investigation of such crimes should be left exclusively to the police. After all, this is a business in a legally sensitive area. Because no one – not even the police – is allowed to incite crimes.”
Caption:
Vet Kluzak and Barbora Chalopova achieved great success with the audience with the movie “Caught in the Net”, which was watched by more than 500,000 people in the Czech Republic alone.
Hypermarket Film / Milan Garros
The Czech police showed much less concerns in this regard: they used the filmed material to search for an electronic nanny and opened more than 50 criminal cases.
SRF1, 10, 10, June 1, 2021.