Noted Child Advocate Carla St. Rose-Rein Offers Top Warning Signs That A Predator Might Be Targeting A Child

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 02, 2006 ) Columbia, MD – Noted child advocate, Carla St. Rose-Rein, author of LAND OF BROKEN TOYS, issued a warning list for parents of top signs that an adult predator might be targeting a child. St. Rose-Rein says that in the United States, child predators often integrate themselves with single mothers as a way to get close to children. She says that this often happens more in middle class families than would be expected.The top warning signs that St. Rose-Rein wants single parents to be aware of and that should cause alarm when they are dating are:1. The need to meet & interact with children2. Adults who refer to child as a "friend"3. Adults who give gifts and money to the child and tells the child to keep it a secret4. Inappropriate contact, playing, wrestling, tickling, of the child for long periods of time5. Phone calls or emails that are directed to the child6. Invitations to events where parents are not welcomed7. Unusual amounts of personal attention being directed to the child8. Wanting "alone time" with the child“In society today, the number of families led by a single mother is on the rise and child predators target these families,” said St. Rose-Rein. “Child predators seek out single mothers on dating websites and other places for singles as a way to get close to a child. That is why it is so important to check a person’s background out before bringing them home to meet your children.”St. Rose-Rein has documented her own years of abuse as a child in a single parent family, in her critically acclaimed book, LAND OF BROKEN TOYS. She points out that a troubling statistic with child abuse is that often a single mother will not believe her child when they report the abuse for fear of losing the person that they are dating. Sexual predators prey upon the vulnerabilities of single mothers, she says and have become sophisticated in their ways of targeting single mothers. “Sexual abuse of children is on the rise,” said St. Rose-Rein. “We must all work together to prevent it. By using common sense in introducing strangers to children and being on the lookout for warning signs, we can prevent it.”Additional information on LAND OF BROKEN TOYS and Carla St. Rose-Rein may be obtained at www.landofbrokentoys.com.###

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David Johnson

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