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| Source: NAYAG buzz |
What is child grooming?
Child grooming is when someone builds a relationship based on trust and emotional connection with a minor or a child, typically with the intentions of abusing or exploiting them. These minors or children being groomed can be trafficked, sexually abused or exploited. The children can be groomed online or in person or both. This can be done by a family member, a friend, or someone who has targeted them such as a teacher or a sports coach.
Groomers may hide their identity by sending photos or videos of other people. This can sometimes be impersonating someone younger than them so that the victim can relate to them and feel at ease with them, so that they can earn the victim’s trust.
There can be many forms of relationships that can be formed with the child, such as a romantic relationship, mentor or even an authority figure. Essentially a person they can trust, rely on or depend upon. Child grooming can occur through social media networks, or through texting applications such as Whatsapp, Instagram or Snapchat, or even text, voice chat in forums where they play games together for example. They can do actions such as buying gifts, pretending to be younger than them, taking them on holiday trips and such.
It can be difficult to identify when a child is being groomed, as sometimes it can be masked as normal “teenager behaviour”. Some of the signs can be such as spending extended periods of time outside away from home, being very secretive of how they are spending their time, including when they are online, having money or new clothes that they cannot or won’t explain, underage drinking or underage consumption of drugs.
Who is Colleen Ballinger?
Colleen Mae Ballinger is an American comedian, YouTuber, actress, singer and writer. She is best known for her creation and portrayal of the Internet character Miranda Sings on Youtube. She is 36 years old.
What is the Status of The Child Grooming Allegations Against Colleen Ballinger?
She has recently been involved in child grooming allegations. This involved resurfacing of old and new child grooming allegations.
The public allegations began as far back as April 2020. A fan named “Adam McIntyre” accused Colleen Ballinger of developing an unhealthy relationship with him at the young age of 13. They met in 2014, but by 2016 he alleges that Colleen sent him a set of underwear, and that he was part of a Twitter group fan chat called ‘Colleeny’s Weenies’. He reported that within this chat, Colleen asked him what his ‘favourite position’ was and that his ‘a** looks good’, asking for pictures. Adam also shared screenshots of the chat. She even sent lingerie to him as a joke.
As mentioned in an article written by The Rolling Stone,
How has Colleen Ballinger Responded to The Child Grooming Allegations?
She made a video in which she sang her apology with a ukulele, where she sang that she is not a groomer she’s just a loser.
People on the internet are saying things like, “I hope Colleen Ballinger loses everything. The audacity to post that embarrassing song and pretend that she's ever actually taken accountability for anything in her life is disgusting. Minimizing the experiences of her victims by talking about "jokes' ' or "mistakes from her past".
Adam McIntyre has responded to the video in an emotional tweet: “As much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, I'm glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL Colleen Ballinger.”
The Bottom Line
Colleen Ballinger has been accused of all these child grooming related activities but she has denied all allegations. Child grooming is not to be taken lightly.
Child grooming is when someone builds a relationship based on trust and emotional connection with a minor or a child, typically with the intentions of abusing or exploiting them. These minors or children being groomed can be trafficked, sexually abused or exploited. The children can be groomed online or in person or both. This can be done by a family member, a friend, or someone who has targeted them such as a teacher or a sports coach.
Groomers may hide their identity by sending photos or videos of other people. This can sometimes be impersonating someone younger than them so that the victim can relate to them and feel at ease with them, so that they can earn the victim’s trust.
There can be many forms of relationships that can be formed with the child, such as a romantic relationship, mentor or even an authority figure. Essentially a person they can trust, rely on or depend upon. Child grooming can occur through social media networks, or through texting applications such as Whatsapp, Instagram or Snapchat, or even text, voice chat in forums where they play games together for example. They can do actions such as buying gifts, pretending to be younger than them, taking them on holiday trips and such.
It can be difficult to identify when a child is being groomed, as sometimes it can be masked as normal “teenager behaviour”. Some of the signs can be such as spending extended periods of time outside away from home, being very secretive of how they are spending their time, including when they are online, having money or new clothes that they cannot or won’t explain, underage drinking or underage consumption of drugs.
Who is Colleen Ballinger?
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| Source: improv |
Colleen Mae Ballinger is an American comedian, YouTuber, actress, singer and writer. She is best known for her creation and portrayal of the Internet character Miranda Sings on Youtube. She is 36 years old.
What is the Status of The Child Grooming Allegations Against Colleen Ballinger?
She has recently been involved in child grooming allegations. This involved resurfacing of old and new child grooming allegations.
The public allegations began as far back as April 2020. A fan named “Adam McIntyre” accused Colleen Ballinger of developing an unhealthy relationship with him at the young age of 13. They met in 2014, but by 2016 he alleges that Colleen sent him a set of underwear, and that he was part of a Twitter group fan chat called ‘Colleeny’s Weenies’. He reported that within this chat, Colleen asked him what his ‘favourite position’ was and that his ‘a** looks good’, asking for pictures. Adam also shared screenshots of the chat. She even sent lingerie to him as a joke.
As mentioned in an article written by The Rolling Stone,
“Past and current members of her team, including her best friend Kory Desoto, her ex-husband Joshua David Evans, and her brother Trent Ballinger, have also been accused of using Ballinger’s fame and access to inappropriately message underage followers. Fans have claimed they were sent inappropriate texts by Trent, asked about their sex lives by Ballinger, and, in one case, bullied over their weight by DeSoto. McIntyre says the YouTube star created a reputation for personally responding and interacting with fans — a power he claims she took advantage of for content. And four other fans tell Rolling Stone that the same access that made Ballinger famous opened the door for behind-the-scenes interactions they describe as toxic, exploitative, and hurtful.”
How has Colleen Ballinger Responded to The Child Grooming Allegations?
She made a video in which she sang her apology with a ukulele, where she sang that she is not a groomer she’s just a loser.
People on the internet are saying things like, “I hope Colleen Ballinger loses everything. The audacity to post that embarrassing song and pretend that she's ever actually taken accountability for anything in her life is disgusting. Minimizing the experiences of her victims by talking about "jokes' ' or "mistakes from her past".
Adam McIntyre has responded to the video in an emotional tweet: “As much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, I'm glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL Colleen Ballinger.”
The Bottom Line
Colleen Ballinger has been accused of all these child grooming related activities but she has denied all allegations. Child grooming is not to be taken lightly.
Written By - Vidita Sachdeva
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