TSA frisks prepare children to cooperate with sex predators!
WASHINGTON - December 1, 2010 - An expert in the fight against child sexual abuse is raising the alarm about a technique the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reportedly using to get children to cooperate with airport pat downs, calling it a game.
Ken Wooden, founder of Child Lures Prevention, says the TSA's recommendation that children be told the pat down is a game is potentially putting children in danger.
Telling a child that they are engaging in a game is "one of the most common ways" that sexual predators use to convince children to engage in inappropriate contact, Wooden told Raw Story.
Children "don't have the sophistication" to distinguish between a pat down carried out by an airport security officer and an assault by a sexual predator, he said.
The TSA policy could "desensitize children to inappropriate touch and ultimately make it easier for sexual offenders to prey on our children," Wooden added.
Following an outcry last month over the use on children of "enhanced pat downs", which involve the touching of genitals, the TSA announced a new modified pat down for children under 12. However, as the Los Angeles Times noted, the new rules are unclear on whether TSA agents can touch children's genitals.
Addressing the controversy over pat downs of children last month, TSA regional security director James Marchand told the press the TSA was working on new practices to make children more comfortable during the pat down process.
