FATHER WHOSE SON WAS GROOMED ON MINECRAFT URGES PARENTS NOT TO USE WEB AS BABYSITTER
A FATHER whose son was groomed through an online game has urged parents not to use the internet as a form of babysitting.
The dad, who we are calling Lee, discovered to his horror that his young son had been groomed through the popular computer game Minecraft by Adam Isaac.
The paedophile targeted schoolboys aged 12 and 14 through the game and lured them into online sexual chats.
Isaac, of Maesgwynne, Cefn Coed, was jailed last month at Merthyr Crown Court for two years and eight months.
Lee said: “There’s more to life than computers. Some people seem to use the computers as a form of babysitting. They let their child use the computers to keep them quiet for hours and hours on end.
“When a child is being groomed, the longer they are online, the more damage that can be done.
“It’s a part of life now that we’ve got computers and the internet, but children need to be supervised while they are using it.”
Lee, whose real name cannot be printed for legal reasons, said: “There’s nothing you can teach them to prepare for that because the person that’s doing it is clever and intelligent and calculating and knows exactly what they are doing. There’s no way my son would have seen it coming.”
But he said there are ways for parents to keep an eye on their children.
“Make it part of a routine to read the messages. It’s either that or you never let them get on them in the first place.
“Make sure that they’ve not deleted the history. It doesn’t matter what platform.”
Lee acknowledged that social media is a big part of children’s lives during secondary school now and said apps can be easily downloaded without parents even knowing.
Lee said he has been using an app called OurPact since what happened to his son. OurPact is described as a parental control app that allows parents to limit screen time and remotely block internet and app usage on your child’s device.
“That’s been a really big help. We now schedule our children’s phones so that at bedtime they go off.
“They are still able to use it as a mobile phone but there’s no internet access. It’s made life a lot easier,” he said.
Talking about his son, Lee said: “He wasn’t allowed online for months but ultimately it’s the state of society. I don’t think you can stop your child going online completely. “So we’ve had to relinquish a little bit. “It’s not his fault that this has happened to him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.
“We were doing everything you could do before this happened.”
He added: “Nothing’s going to make what happened to my son any better. The more awareness people can get, the more good it will do.”
Speaking ahead of Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Jon Drake, the All Wales Lead for Child Sexual Exploitation, said it was important that parents or guardians know about everything their children are doing online and to have regular chats with them about what they are doing.
He said: “It’s important they talk regularly with their children about how they use technology and understand what