Ariel Winter, most commonly known as the actress who played Alex Dunphy in ABC’s Modern Family, joined forces with a nonprofit by pretending to be a 12-year-old girl in an Oklahoma City sting operation.
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According to the Daily Mail, Winter collaborated with Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA) for their YouTube docuseries, SOSA Undercover. Winter acted as a 12-year-old decoy during the operation, motivated by her past experiences as a child actress.
“It’s definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference,” Winter told the Daily Mail. “Growing up in the entertainment industry, I’ve been the girl we are trying to save. It’s vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life.”
Winter described her role in the sting operation as “scary,” but that putting away predators who harm children is “validating.” However, catching the predators can be a very exhausting job. Factors such as predators not using their real name or handle make the research and investigation hard, leading to “a lot of dark things.”
“These men also look like normal, nice guys – they don’t look like predators. They look like the guy next-door and they’re usually married and have children,” Winter added. “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.”
In one instance, Winter recalled a 40-year-old man wanting to take an 11-year-old shopping “for a new bra.” Unfortunately, this is just one of the many instances where grown men seek out underage girls.
“This whole experience has been heartbreaking because I think of how young these girls are and they’re being approached by much older men,” Winter said.
‘A Dark Place’
Ariel Winter shared with the outlet that, having started as an actress at age four, she eventually began receiving inappropriate messages from much older men once she got hold of a laptop and cell phone.
“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 added. “The movie and TV industry is a dark place.”
SOSA Founder Roo Powell also spoke with the Daily Mail, highlighting Winter’s role with the nonprofit.
“Ariel is boosting our platform and it means so much to us because we have only five full-time employees and we have a smaller budget than most libraries so we need the help,” Powell said. “Ariel is getting the word out about SOSA. She has been amazing. She will do anything to help us.”
Following legal guidelines and partnering with Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), SOSA collaborates with law enforcement and shares valuable resources online about the dangers of child sexual exploitation.