![]() ![]() The living room acts as our “situation” room, where we do research and plan “sprints,” as we call them, to identify perpetrators.Īt SOSA, we’re interested in detecting patterns around how predators target children. Wigs, colored contacts, fake braces, and clothes are stored in a closet. We set-dress two bathrooms, and use the kitchen as needed. We all work from a big rental house with four bedrooms decorated to match each decoy’s personality. Everything you see-from pillows to photos-is meticulously selected to make a decoy appear realistic. One of four bedrooms in the rental house where SOSA operates. Avalon helps build the decoys to make them believable, like determining Flori's astrological sign, where was she born, and what her favorite hobbies are. Shelby has unique knowledge of niche parts of the Internet, and does a lot of our work on social media. Matt takes and edits pictures that we send to the people who contact us. We have a rolling staff at SOSA to help make our characters more realistic. If I can do that successfully, the information goes right to law enforcement, who can either do an independent investigation, take over my accounts and communicate as our decoy, or partner with us to catch the predator. When I am Flori or any of the other decoys, my goal is to identify perpetrators illegally interacting with underage kids. What we do is really different from Chris Hansen's To Catch a Predator. In this photo, Powell is piecing together information about a potential perp on a whiteboard. One of the hardest-and most important-things Powell and her team of investigators do is identify the names of predators who make contact with their decoys. We also do a lot of reminders, like “I’m coming home from school,” or “I just did my algebra homework,” or “I wish I was old enough to drive.” We offer off-ramps, too, telling them, “We don’t have to meet if you don't want to,” or “Are you sure you want to be talking to me and not someone your own age?” We tell them at the outset that we are underage. We let the predators drive the conversation by taking a hands-off approach. ![]() One question I get a lot is whether I am somehow exploiting these perpetrators. We also help law enforcement track down offenders by using fictitious underage characters like Flori. We work to reduce the amount of online exploitation by identifying dangerous pockets of the Internet, speaking at schools, and encouraging state legislators to raise the age of consent. In 2020, I formed the nonprofit Safe From Online Sex Abuse (SOSA). But it’s also an avenue for child predators. With wigs, makeup, fake braces, and photo filters, Powell successfully transforms into a teenager online. I am Flori-or rather, I embody Flori to catch online predators. She posts videos to TikTok and selfies to Instagram.īy all appearances, Flori is a typical teenager. Notebooks and homework clutter her writing desk, and pages ripped from magazines are taped to the wall. Her blue-walled room is decorated with a tapestry depicting the moon phases. She grew up Catholic, likes to go on runs, and occasionally plays the piano. Her dad hasn’t been in the picture since he moved out of state with his new family. ![]() She lives with her mom, who works late nights at a hospital. She is half white, half Filipina, with braces and wavy brown hair. Below, in her own words, the child activist-and amateur actor-on why she’s dedicated her life to preventing the exploitation of teens online.įlori is 15 years old. Now available to stream, Undercover Underage features several real-life stings led by Powell. If and when a crime is committed, SOSA turns over their findings to law enforcement. Once an adult makes contact with her “decoy” character, SOSA’s crew of investigators work tirelessly to gather bits of information about the perpetrator-complicated work that is often extremely dangerous. ![]() With help from her team at SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse), Powell uses wigs, colored contacts, and fake braces to physically transform into a 15-year-old girl and catch online predators looking to groom young girls. Undercover Underage, a new docuseries from discovery+, follows 38-year-old mom of three Roo Powell as she dons disguises to take down dangerous predators. ![]()
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