Averting tricks of predator trade

Marisa O’Neil

The average child molester is probably the nicest person in the

world, or so your children may think.

That’s what Halecrest and Hall of Fame residents learned during a

presentation designed to help them protect their children from

predators.

The Killybrooke Elementary School PTA, Neighborhood Watch and

homeowner’s associations brought the Kid Safe presentation to the

school Tuesday night. The program, put on by Irvine-based marriage

and family therapist Scott Peebles, is designed to help parents teach

their children about molesters and abductors who prey on children.

Predators can live anywhere, Peebles warned.

“It’s scary,” resident Julie Parks, mother of a 6-year-old girl,

said of the potential threats to children. “It’s super scary.

Especially when you have girls.”

One registered sex offender lives within a half-mile of the

school, according to the Megan’s Law website, Peebles said. Seven

live within a mile and 40 within two miles.

“It doesn’t matter what geographic region you’re in,” parent

Darrin Seal said. “It can happen anywhere.”

The first step to protecting your children, Peebles said, is to

break down stereotypes of the typical child predator. Peebles donned

a trench coat, hat and glasses to prove his point.

“This is what your kids think a molester is,” he said. “Some guy

in a big coat and hat passing out candy. They’re not looking for the

average person who’s going to hurt them. Most likely, it’s going to

be someone who looks like you or like me.”

Child predators will go out of their way to entice children to

their homes with the promise of video games, attention, money and

other ploys, Peebles said.

Or they’ll try to trick children into getting in their cars, by

telling children their parents have been in an accident. Another

common trick predators use, he said, is asking a child to help look

for a lost puppy.

Alejandro Avila, recently convicted of the 2002 abduction and

murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in Stanton, used the puppy

trick to lure her into his car.

Parents need to talk openly with their children about how they can

protect themselves -- and not be afraid of scaring them, Peebles

said. They need to teach children to always ask permission before

helping a stranger or going someplace without their parents, he said.

And children need to know they can tell their parents about anyone

or anything they don’t feel comfortable with. Just like families need

to practice fire drills, they need to practice averting the tricks

predators use. Practice is key to helping children know how to react

when confronted by a predator in real life, said Clint Dieball, a

Costa Mesa detective who attended the program.

“These tips are good,” he said. “But only as good as the people

here following them.”