FBI Special Agent Lenny Carollo will repeat his Internet safety presentation
to Jesuit’s parents next Monday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

In a presentation that at times drew audible gasps and left some parents shaking their heads in disbelief and disgust, Carollo gave a crash course on Internet dangers and ways to thwart sexual predators who constantly infiltrate online chat rooms, blogs, and popular social network web sites like MySpace and Facebook, beguiling children and young teenagers in hopes of ensnaring them into a web of deceit that often ends tragically.

An FBI agent with local roots, Carollo grew up in Chalmette (he graduated from Archbishop Hannan High School). After joining the FBI a few years ago, he was initially assigned to its Houston office, but then Hurricane Katrina came along. Carollo was one of hundreds of FBI agents who were sent from all over the country to help secure and bring order to New Orleans in the days and weeks after the floodwalls collapsed and inundated 80% of the city. While most agents eventually left the state, Carollo stayed and now works in the FBI’s Lakefront office, located on Leon C. Simon Drive.

Carollo is part of a small team that specializes exclusively on finding, tracking, and apprehending pedophiles and other sexual deviants who use the Internet to commit their crimes. In his online undercover work, Carollo told Jesuit parents that he has infiltrated numerous social networks, chat rooms, blogs, and instant messaging services, posing as a minor girl and yes, at times, even a young teen boy.

One of his cases, he told parents, involved a longtime Laplace journalist who used an online chat room to arrange a sexual encounter with a girl whom he believed was 16-years-old. The “girl” was actually Carollo, who with a team of FBI agents, arrested the 52-year-old editor when he showed up at a Slidell restaurant’s parking lot for the date. He pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and in early 2007 began serving a 6 ½ year prison sentence.

Carollo urged parents to become more curious about their sons’ use of the Internet outside of school, paying close attention to online activities that take place on the home computer, which, he strongly suggested, should be located in a high traffic area of the house. He encouraged parents to try an open approach with their children, particularly if they have a personal web site on MySpace.com, the largest online social party with 217 million users.

“Parents should ask to see their children’s MySpace website and consider creating a site of their own which is easy to do,” he said, adding that parents and kids could then be on each other’s friends list. MySpace users are increasingly using its main security feature – a privacy control that blocks access unless invited to enter. Carollo said MySpace’s privacy feature is an effective tool for thwarting people whose agenda is of a criminal nature. According to Carollo, the 58 million users of Facebook.com have considerably more security features to choose from than the ones on MySpace.

The agent suggested that parents try a simple Google or Yahoo search of themselves and their children. “You’ll be amazed at how much personal information is out there on the Internet,” he said.

“There are real-life consequences to posting personal information,” Carollo said. “Profiles, blogs, bulletin boards, and webcams are not only viewed by your child’s friends, but also by parents, teachers, colleges, and employers.”

Carollo’s presentation was followed by a question-answer session that lasted almost 30 minutes.