Assemblyman Joe Giglio (R,C,I-Gowanda) today announced he was teaming up with the local division of the FBI and Wellsville Central Schools to offer a free, adults only, Child Internet Safety Course to teach parents how to deal with the growing danger of online sexual predators.

The seminar will be held May 8, 2008 at 7 p.m. in the Wellsville High School Auditorium located at 126 West State Street in Wellsville and will be taught by FBI Special Agent Brent Isaacson.

"It seems that everyday there is another news story or Dateline series showing how pedophiles use the Internet to target unsuspecting children," said Assemblyman Giglio. "The internet has quickly become a breading ground for sexual predators and this FBI presentation will provide adults the information they need to keep these predators out of our house and away from our kids."

The FBI's Internet Safety presentation will focus on providing parents and teachers with a clear understanding of the threat online sexual predators pose to children - and ways to protect our children. The behavior of these predators is discussed in detail, including how they approach and groom their child victims, how they take advantage of today's technology to reach child victims, and how they avoid detection.

To help parents and teachers better protect their children, the FBI provides information on today's most used internet systems in child victimization, including instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing systems, and personal web pages. To illustrate the threat is real and local, the presentation also provides detailed discussions of several actual and recent cases from Western New York investigated by the FBI.

"The Wellsville Central School district is pleased to be teaming up with Assemblyman Joe Giglio and the local division of the FBI in hosting an Internet safety presentation," said Dean Giopulos, Wellsville High School Principal. "While there are incredible educational advantages in the evolving technology of the Internet, there also are risks. We feel fortunate to have this opportunity to inform parents and educators about the threat online sexual predators pose to our children and to be able to provide specific strategies in an effort to protect the youth in our community," Giopulos said.

"Children often let their guard down on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace because they feel safe in their own house -- that’s just what these predators are counting on," continued Giglio. "Special Agent Isaacson will teach parents and grandparents how these sites operate and how pedophiles use them to gain access to our kids."

Brent Isaacson has been a Special Agent of the FBI for eleven years having served in Washington, DC and in Western New York, during which time he has investigated violent crime, computer crime, public corruption, white collar crime, and child exploitation matters.

For more information on the FBI presentation please call Assemblyman Giglio’s Office at 716-373-7103.