Teaching your child

The abductor impersonator could approach the children at a park with a photo of a lost pet, asking for help.

From a distance, parents could observe what their children say and do.

This could be done with a group of families who could then discuss with the children the right and wrong decisions they made.

"You don't train them about crossing the street when you're in the kitchen," says Michael Nuccitelli, a licensed psychologist and executive director for SLS Health, a residential treatment and wellness clinic in Brewster, N.Y.

Likewise, parents shouldn't try to teach their kids about safety in public places while sitting at home.

It's not enough to warn a child, "Don't talk to strangers" or "Don't take anything from strangers," says Neal Rawls, author of "Be Alert, Be Aware, Have a Plan - A Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Home and Your Family."

"A predator does not simply spout words. It's more action, animation," Rawls says.

Parents need to give examples of the common lures predators use.

"Over 25 percent of parents don't even discuss these problems with their children," says Rawls, director of security consulting for The Palladium Group, a West Palm Beach, Fla., company specializing in corporate and private security, computer forensics and investigations.

A would-be abductor may approach a child and say, "Oh, I have a little boy about your age and I just bought him a Nintendo. He already has one Nintendo. Would you like the other one?"

Abductors often show children pictures of a pet, claim that it is lost and ask the child to help find it. "Adults ask adults for help. Adults don't ask children for help," Rawls says.

While the age of children who are abducted ranges from newborns in hospitals to high schoolers, the average age is 11, Rawls says.

More than half of the first contact sexual predators have with children is within a quarter-mile of home, Rawls says.

"You have to take basic security precautions for yourself and your family," Rawls says.