A child crimes investigator has revealed the grooming behaviour that parents should never ignore.
The police officer, from the US, shared her concerns on TikTok where she explained the sad and common truth behind a predator's tactic.
In the video, she stressed how predators will often groom parents first before they go on to target their children.
"It's the most overlooked grooming behaviour of a child predator," the officer told her TikTok audience.
"Child predators start most of the time, not by grooming the children, but by grooming you - the parents or the guardian."
She explained that sexual predators often try to gain "continued access" to a child. To achieve this, they'll first "get in" with the parents, knowing it's the only way.
"This could look like offering to give your child rides to and from a sport or activity," she warned.
"It can appear as them offering to pay for things such as sport, rent, car, gas or trips that you wouldn't otherwise afford."
The investigator went on to say that in most cases, the "child and family knows the abuser".
"The predator wants continued access to the kids, so they are going to play the long game," she added.
She also warned of the dangers for single parents.
"Child predators often want to prey on vulnerable parents, a lot of the time it's single mums that have kids," she said.
"If they are offering to babysit your kid, run the opposite way".
The video has since stirred online reaction from parents, who shared their own opinions in the comments.
"Pay attention to them wanting to be alone with your kid, my abusers offered babysitting," one parent said.
"When I'm on a dating app, if they start to ask too many questions about my kid, I immediately cut it off," one mother commented, with another adding "never mention you have kids in your app".
One mother even shared the restrictions she puts in place due to the risk of grooming.
"This right here is why my child goes nowhere without me, no sleepovers, no school practices alone, nothing," she said.
The officer went on to highlight the dangers of including photos of children, or information about them on dating profiles.
"The internet is a weird place," she added.
