Kik Messaging & Chat App
This is an anonymous chat product that has been tied to an alarming number of child sex crimes. Anyone can create an anonymous username and pretend to be any age they want. Children routinely post their Kik names on other social media inviting any stranger to talk to them or share pornographic photos/video. Most information that is sent through the service is deleted as soon as it is delivered, and it has embedded 'dating' products where an adult can pretend to be a child (or vice versa). It has also been tied to extensive arrests in the distribution of child pornography and has been tied to sextortion. We strongly recommend that you not allow your child to use this app. It has, on many occasions, been used to 'groom' children met online by predators leading up to child sexual assaults.
It can be difficult to talk to a child about why an app is dangerous. But children can form bonds and a sense of "friendship" with strangers incredibly quickly. You should try to understand what the features are of this app that your child needs versus what is available inside of text messaging or other products. Listen as to why they want this, and then use it to find alternatives if the features they want are benign, or talk to them about the risks if the features they want are dangerous (such as wanting to meet strangers. If they have been using it for a while, ask to see their activity. Based on the nature of the conversations your child has been having on Kik, you may need to involve law enforcement to protect your child.
Below is a list of news articles of child sex crimes in which Kik played a role. It includes child sexual assault, sextortion, child pornography (when adults sext with minors, they are often prosecuted for child pornography for receipt of the images) and more.
2017 - Las Vegas man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl inside her home
2016 - Suspected Sexual Predator Found 13-Year-Old Girl Via Kik Messaging App
2016 - Feds: Man, woman sexually exploited baby in Onondaga County, shared photos on Kik
2016 - Cedar Park man accused of sexually assaulting child he met on Kik
2016 - Crawford High School student arrested on child pornography, sexual assault charges
2015 - 14 Year-Old Raped by Man She Met on Kik
2015 - State Department Employee Arrested for Soliciting Minor
2015 - JBLM Soldier Charged with Rape of 12-year-old Girl
2015 - North Brookfield Man Faces Child Porn, Enticement Charges
2015 - Summer camp counselor arrested for anonymously terrorizing 13 year-old-boy for nearly a year
2015 - 19 year-old man accused of having a relationship with a 13 year-old girl
2015 - Wautsuwa teen tells harrowing story of sextortion
2015 - 39 year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting 7th grader
2015 - Florida cop arrested for allegedly distributing child porn
2015 - Lincoln man arrested for sending child porn over Kik
2015 - Fifth-grader receives threats, explicit messages from classmate
2015 - Heroic father saves 12 year-old daughter as she is being lured into car by man she met on Kik
2015 - Convicted sex offender charged with sending sexual messages to 8 year-old girl
2015 - Drug dealer gave school girl cocaine & ketamine after grooming her via Kik
2015 - Bronx Science debate coach pretends to minor to get photos from teenage boys
2015 - Child pornography bust in Morrisville
2015 - Mom whose teenage daughter hung herself speaks out
2015 - Maryland man arrested for soliciting sex from 12 year-old girl on Kik
2015 - Substitute teacher accused of having sex with student
2014 - 12 year-olds online life leads to abduction and rape
2015 - Man sentenced in child pornography case
2015 - Man arrested on charges of child porn, soliciting a minor
2015 - Illinois man drives to Sevier County to have sex with 13 year old girl
2015 - Internet predator jailed after grooming 15 year-old girl
2015 - Baton Rouge man allegedly extorted young girls into sending pornographic images
2015 - Virginia Beach man sentenced to 20 years for having sex with four underage girls on camera
2015 - Man acused of sex with 14 year old girl
2015 - Celebrity chef shares child pornography on Kik
2015 - Man arrested in child sexual abuse image investigation
2015 - Man sent over 1,000 images of child porn, including toddler, via Kik, in 2 days
2015 - Madison man gets four year prison sentence for sexual assault of 15 year-old girl
2015 - Man charged with sexual abuse of minor
2015 - Kurtz tried to turn victims into sex slaves, had one engage in genital mutilation
2015 - NJ man charged with sexual assault of 12 year-old boy
2015 - 54 year-old man charged with sexual abuse of 13 year old girl
2015 - Sextorition of 21 underage girls in 8 states
2015 - 31 year-old man accused of enticiting 7 boys ages 12-15 to send photos of their genitals
2015 - Army Staff Sergeant sought in sexual abuse crimes of as many as 100 minors
2015 - Man arrested for engaging in lewd acts, had plans to abduct/rape
2015 - Man charged with child pornography and enticement
2015 - EMT worker accused of sexting girl
2015 - Teacher lured student for sex
2015 - Man arrested in child sex sting
2015 - Man charged with child porn faces 37 additional counts
2015 - Child molestor sentenced to life
2015 - Two charged with enticement of a minor
2015 - Nine arrested in child pornography sting. One for sextortion
2015 - Man sexting with 30 minors, received photos
2015 - 22 year-old faces 12 year sentence for child porn
2015 - 41 year-old man arrested. Planned to impregnate 13 year-old girl
2015 - Man tells 14 year-old girl, "You have ten minutes to do what I want" in sextortion case
2015 - Man indicted after posing as woman online because it "makes it easier to obtain child pornography"
2015 - Man poses as girl, receives nude photos, blackmails senders for sex
2015 - Man trades naked photos with 13 year-old girl, threatens her, sexually assaults another
2015 - Teacher sent naked photos of self to middle school student
2015 - 47 year-old man arrested after arranging sex with 13 year-old
2015 - 12 arrested in child porn sting
2015 - Man enticed 14 year-old girl online, sexually assaulted her
2015 - SLO man accused of raping teen he met online
2015 - Man who sent obscene messages to 11 year-old jailed
2015 - Youth Villages counselor accused of raping juvenle
2015 - Man sentenced for sexual assault of 13 year-old girl
2015 - Anchorage DJ used app to solicit child pornography from minors
2015 - Former volunteer firefighter charged with exploitation of minor
2015 - Man sentenced for extorting naked images and video from a child (and more)
To see Kik Messaging & Chat App in iTunes, click here
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