Lake County Authorities: Warm Weather Children Safety Warning

LAKE COUNTY, IL — With Spring around the corner and warmer weather on the horizon, Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim and Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg are reminding adults to reinforce the “stranger danger” principals and lessons with children. While the risk of a child being abducted by someone not known to the family is extremely rare in Lake County, keeping a watchful eye on children playing outside or in public settings remains important, State’s Attorney Nerheim said, in a news release from the Lake County State's Attorney's office.

“While the risk of abduction in Lake County remains exceptionally low, the safety of children is something we should never take for granted,” State's Attorney Nerheim said, in the news release.

Most missing children reports filed in Lake County involve a child who has voluntarily run away from home, the news release said, adding that those children and teens run a greater risk for being abducted and assaulted due to their vulnerability.

Most of those runaways generally end with the child returning home or being found by law enforcement, Sheriff Idleburg said, in the news release, adding, "We urge parents to continue monitoring your children’s social media accounts, text messages and internet usage. Virtual online environments are prime areas for child predators to lurk.”

Predators often disguise themselves as other children and have long-term conversations with victims to gain the child’s trust before exploiting the victim. Internet predators can manipulate children into sending revealing or explicit photos and videos, then issue threats to release those photos unless more photos or videos are sent over.

People who find a child exploited should not delete any of those messages involved. The best chance of identifying an offender is if all data is untouched.

In addition, children should always have open lines of communication with family members like parents, grandparents and siblings to safeguard against exploitive behavior.