Paragon GPS announced Monday the launch of child abduction awareness campaign that plans to educate people about the gravity of child abduction in today's changing culture.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a child is abducted or missing every 40 seconds. Statistics from law enforcement also indicate that 44 percent of children who are abducted, are murdered within the first hour; 74 percent by the second
"These numbers are grim," explains John Camenero, Vice President of Paragon. "That's why we are forming a board of people who will include several child safety experts and other industry experts to launch this awareness campaign and to educate the public. We have to keep our children safe."
Paragon GPS has been been provided with funding for this two-fold campaign, which is first, to educate and second, to develop products to assist in the aid of child safety.
"Parents need to empower themselves with information that will help to protect their children, and then act on it," says Camenero.
Paragon GPS reveals that the abduction of children occurs much more often in this country than most people would suspect, but because of a fault in the country's national crime reporting procedures, no one knows the true number. For example, the FBI does not report on attempted abduction cases.
According to industry experts, motivating factors in child abduction are often complicated and can include an array of disillusioning factors. Research and investigative experience have shown that family abductions, motivated by domestic discord and custody disputes, are the most common.
Short-term, non-family incidents where abductors release or return children, often before anyone knows they are missing constitute another type of child abduction. Short-term cases often involve sexual molestation.
The least common are non-family abductions. These cases are typically reported to police as missing child reports, rarely resulting in a speedy resolution. Motivations for these types of abductions typically include: sexual gratification; retribution; financial gain; desire to kill; and maternal desire.
Sexually motivated abductions represent the most common type of non-family abduction.
Paragon GPS also reports that these types of cases also pose the highest risk of victim mortality. Due to their potentially lethal profile, law enforcement must conduct stealthy and well-managed investigations.
"So, while education is the first step, prevention is the second," Camenero explains.
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