Latest news with #SafeFromOnlineSexAbuse
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Modern Family' star goes undercover as 12-year-old for ‘scary' sting operation
"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter opened up about her harrowing experience posing as a preteen girl to help catch a child sexual predator. The 27-year-old actress, who played Alex Dunphy on the hit sitcom "Modern Family" from 2009 to 2020, joined forces with the nonprofit Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA) for an undercover sting operation that was featured in the true crime docuseries "SOSA Undercover." In the premiere episode, Winter pretended to be a 12-year-old girl to entice a 31-year-old predator in Oklahoma City. During an interview with the Daily Mail published Friday, Winter explained how she felt about serving as a decoy in the operation. "It's definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference," Winter said. 'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter Fled La To Escape Trauma From Childhood Stardom "It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and talking to older men, but it's validating to put away predators that have been harming children," she continued. Read On The Fox News App "Growing up in the entertainment industry, I've been the girl we are trying to save," Winter added. "It's vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life." Winter donned a blonde wig with bangs to play the part of the fake 12-year-old. In one scene, Winter was seen sitting on a bed in a room that was staged to look like a child's bedroom. The actress adopted a child-like voice as she FaceTimed the predator, whom she referred to as "Daddy." While speaking with the Winter described how she worked with SOSA to identify online child sexual predators. "Finding someone is hard, because they don't use their real name or handle, and we have to do research into who these people are," she said. "You see a lot of dark things when you start investigating who is after pre-teen girls. "I was surprised by the volume how many men were out there looking to talk to young girls who were 12 or 13. It's hundreds of thousands of men," Winter continued. "These men also look like normal, nice guys — they don't look like predators," she added. "They look like the guy next-door, and they're usually married and have children. The men seem nice because they have pets, and they show you pictures of their dogs. They talk about their everyday life, and they seem like sweet men. But the truth is they want to spend time with a 12-year-old girl, they ask inappropriate questions and want to know if parents are around." "One guy was almost 40-years-old, and he wanted to take an 11-year-old girl shopping for a new bra. That's not normal. It's not good." The actress told the outlet that seeing adult men who were seeking out girls ranging from 12 to 14-years-old was "wild." "This whole experience has been heartbreaking, because I think of how young these girls are and they're being approached by much older men," she said. "I am familiar with male predators, because I worked in Hollywood at a young age, I started at age four," added Winter, who made her TV debut in a 2002 Cool Whip commercial. "I don't wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it causes trauma," she continued. "The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I've had to go to therapy for it," Winter explained. "The movie and TV industry is a dark place." Winter noted how easy it can be for vulnerable children to become prey for adult perpetrators. "Kids look for online relationships because they're lonely or bored, and then they find a male and think that they can connect to them, not realizing they are so much older and are actually predators with bad intentions," she said. The Virginia native told the outlet that she planned to continue volunteering for SOSA. "I like working with SOSA because it's women helping women, and I'll do it as long as I can," Winter said. In February, SOSA shared a clip from the premiere episode on Instagram ahead of its release on March 20. At the time, Winter commented on the video as she candidly reflected on her real-life experiences with child sexual abuse. "I was a victim of grooming online and IRL, and CSA," Winter wrote. "The effects are lifelong and inescapable. This has ALWAYS been a problem, but in the digital age it is only escalating to more extreme levels and in more manipulative ways." She continued, "The access predators have to ALL children in this day and age is immeasurable. This issue needs to be brought further into the light and fought with everything we have. These are very real situations, with real men committing very real crimes, being arrested by real law enforcement that we are asked to assist who are with us every step of the way." "SOSA helps get actual convictions and take these perpetrators off the streets," Winter added. "It is not easy to do this work, but it is so rewarding to know that we've helped protect even one child."Original article source: 'Modern Family' star goes undercover as 12-year-old for 'scary' sting operation
Fox News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
‘Modern Family' star goes undercover as 12-year-old for ‘scary' sting operation
"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter opened up about her harrowing experience posing as a preteen girl to help catch a child sexual predator. The 27-year-old actress, who played Alex Dunphy on the hit sitcom "Modern Family" from 2009 to 2020, joined forces with the nonprofit Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA) for an undercover sting operation that was featured in the true crime docuseries "SOSA Undercover." In the premiere episode, Winter pretended to be a 12-year-old girl to entice a 31-year-old predator in Oklahoma City. During an interview with the Daily Mail published Friday, Winter explained how she felt about serving as a decoy in the operation. "It's definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference," Winter said. "It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and talking to older men, but it's validating to put away predators that have been harming children," she continued. "Growing up in the entertainment industry, I've been the girl we are trying to save," Winter added. "It's vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life." Winter donned a blonde wig with bangs to play the part of the fake 12-year-old. In one scene, Winter was seen sitting on a bed in a room that was staged to look like a child's bedroom. The actress adopted a child-like voice as she FaceTimed the predator, whom she referred to as "Daddy." "It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and talking to older men, but it's validating to put away predators that have been harming children." While speaking with the Winter described how she worked with SOSA to identify online child sexual predators. "Finding someone is hard, because they don't use their real name or handle, and we have to do research into who these people are," she said. "You see a lot of dark things when you start investigating who is after pre-teen girls. "I was surprised by the volume how many men were out there looking to talk to young girls who were 12 or 13. It's hundreds of thousands of men," Winter continued. "These men also look like normal, nice guys — they don't look like predators," she added. "They look like the guy next-door, and they're usually married and have children. The men seem nice because they have pets, and they show you pictures of their dogs. They talk about their everyday life, and they seem like sweet men. But the truth is they want to spend time with a 12-year-old girl, they ask inappropriate questions and want to know if parents are around." "One guy was almost 40-years-old, and he wanted to take an 11-year-old girl shopping for a new bra. That's not normal. It's not good." The actress told the outlet that seeing adult men who were seeking out girls ranging from 12 to 14-years-old was "wild." "This whole experience has been heartbreaking, because I think of how young these girls are and they're being approached by much older men," she said. "I am familiar with male predators, because I worked in Hollywood at a young age, I started at age four," added Winter, who made her TV debut in a 2002 Cool Whip commercial. "I don't wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it causes trauma," she continued. "The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I've had to go to therapy for it," Winter explained. "The movie and TV industry is a dark place." Winter noted how easy it can be for vulnerable children to become prey for adult perpetrators. "Kids look for online relationships because they're lonely or bored, and then they find a male and think that they can connect to them, not realizing they are so much older and are actually predators with bad intentions," she said. The Virginia native told the outlet that she planned to continue volunteering for SOSA. "I like working with SOSA because it's women helping women, and I'll do it as long as I can," Winter said. In February, SOSA shared a clip from the premiere episode on Instagram ahead of its release on March 20. At the time, Winter commented on the video as she candidly reflected on her real-life experiences with child sexual abuse. "I was a victim of grooming online and IRL, and CSA," Winter wrote. "The effects are lifelong and inescapable. This has ALWAYS been a problem, but in the digital age it is only escalating to more extreme levels and in more manipulative ways." She continued, "The access predators have to ALL children in this day and age is immeasurable. This issue needs to be brought further into the light and fought with everything we have. These are very real situations, with real men committing very real crimes, being arrested by real law enforcement that we are asked to assist who are with us every step of the way." "SOSA helps get actual convictions and take these perpetrators off the streets," Winter added. "It is not easy to do this work, but it is so rewarding to know that we've helped protect even one child."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ariel Winter Shares the Very Personal Reason She Goes on Undercover Stings to Catch Child Predators (Exclusive)
Ariel Winter now works with an organization called SOSA (Safe From Online Sex Abuse), which fights online child sex trafficking She says her reasons behind joining the org are personal, and that she's been that kid who was preyed upon online before During the undercover stings, she dresses up as an underage girl and chats with perps. SOSA then works with law enforcement and vice squads to get the predators arrested For a decade between 2009-2020, audiences knew actress Ariel Winter as the adorable, studious middle child Alex Dunphy on the hit sitcom Modern Family. And while she's still acting and producing new projects, Winter, 27, has also leaned into a surprising new passion: fighting against online sexual predators. "I started working with an organization called SOSA (Safe From Online Sex Abuse) a couple of years ago," Winter tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "They're an amazing organization. They fight child sex trafficking online, which is usually the precursor to in-person trafficking," she says. Her involvement began when she and her boyfriend Luke Benward were watching TV and happened upon the Max TV show Undercover Underage, which followed SOSA's missions. Courtesy SOSA Ariel Winter for SOSA Ariel Winter for SOSA The small organization of women acts as young decoys to lure in Internet pedophiles in sting operations, and then work with local law enforcement and vice squads to arrange in-person meetings with those looking to abuse children, and get those perpetrators arrested. "The show just impacted me deeply because I was that kid so many times over that was preyed upon in person online," Winter says. "I was just like, God, I would love to be able to help be a part of that. I don't want to say there's a solution, but I would love to help take some of these people off the streets." Related: 'Modern Family' 's Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter Talk Difficulties of Growing Up in the Public Eye Benward encouraged her to contact SOSA to see how she could help, and soon she was volunteering and eventually even joining undercover missions operations herself. 'It's nerve-racking,' Winter says of joining the stings. 'We build decoy rooms in case the [perp] wants to see our rooms; we have personas. It's very serious.' SOSA's founder, Roo Powell, is beyond grateful for Winter's support. 'Ariel really feels strongly about this,' Powell says. 'She showed up, and she was like, 'What can I do?' I feel so lucky to have her get behind our mission. It's been really meaningful, and the benefit has really been in raising awareness for both parents and kids of the dangers lurking online.' Diana King Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Related: Modern Family's Ariel Winter, Now 27, Reveals She 'Left L.A.' to Build a New Life After Traumatic Childhood (Exclusive) For her part, Winter says she's been shocked at how much she's learned along the way. 'You'd be blown away by the number of people you encounter [who are Internet predators],' she says. 'It could be anyone. The person sitting next to you or sleeping next to you. They don't look like the 'monsters' you think they would." To read more about Ariel Winter, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE on stands now. She adds that going on the sting ops, while an honor, can also be tough. 'I didn't realize it would bring up some of the things past traumas for me that it did, but when you're in disguise as a 12-year-old and someone is telling you what they're going to do to your 12-year-old body… it's hard," she says. Diana King Ariel Winter Ariel Winter She just hopes that her work will get the attention of parents, who she says need to be better informed about just how prevalent online predators are, lurking in chatrooms of games like Roblox, or even in coloring apps designed for toddlers. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "People want to turn a blind eye and pretend this part of the world doesn't exist or isn't as prevalent, but it does and it is, so much," she says. "Kids are so vulnerable to being exploited online in this heavily digital age. Parents think, 'I love my child, I'm present in their lives, they have friends, this wouldn't happen to them.' But it can and does happen to anybody.' Diana King Ariel Winter Ariel Winter She adds, 'SOSA is just as passionate about educating parents on how to keep their kids safe as they are about catching sex traffickers. They even help pay for therapy for victims. It's an amazing organization.' (They have a new show documenting their work called SOSA Undercover on YouTube.) Her work with the organization has given Winter a sense of gratitude. It's also helped with letting go of childhood trauma. 'I experienced a lot in my time in this industry and a lot just in so many other areas,' she says, noting that she's lucky she never fell prey to addictions like so many other child stars. 'I feel so lucky to have come out where I have now,' she says. Visit for more information. Read the original article on People
