A mother was completely appalled when she discovered a symbol on her daughter's new toy is used by pedophiles.
"I'm absolutely sick," Nicole O'Kelly tells CNN affiliate WFLA. "I bought this for my 2-year-old little girl. This toy was made for little girls. I wanted answers."
In 2007, Slate published a story on "The Pedophile's Secret Code." Sourcing an unclassified document from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the website revealed the different symbols and their meanings. "To specifically indicate the pedophile’s gender preference, members of pedophilic organizations encourage the use of descriptions such as 'boylove,' 'girllove,' and 'childlove,'" the FBI document reads.
"Boylove" is symbolized by a small blue spiral-shaped triangle surrounded by a larger triangle, while "girllove" is depicted by a small heart surrounded by a larger heart. WFLA reports that when a pedophile sees children with one of these symbols, it means the child is ready to be traded for sex.
The heart design is what O'Kelly noticed on the children's toy she bought at a recent Monster Jam event. "This is pink," she says pointing to the stuffed monster car toy. "This is for little girls, especially at a predominately male event.”
Feld Inc. owns Monster Jam and admits they had no idea about the symbol's secret code. Stephen Payne, Feld Entertainment's vice president of corporate communications, released this statement to HLN:
"On Tuesday, when the issue with the Monster Jam toy was brought to the company’s attention by a customer who purchased it at a recent Monster Jam event, we immediately pulled this item from inventory and will no longer sell it. In addition, any customers who have purchased this truck can contact our Customer Service Department for an exchange or refund.
The company was not aware of the disturbing message contained in the truck’s design, nor did we intend to use any design that had a secret or double meaning. We are currently reviewing our merchandise to ensure that it's appropriate for our customers.
Feld Entertainment is committed to providing a safe and family-friendly environment at all our shows and through our consumer products. We take this very seriously and are taking steps to ensure that an incident like this never happens again."
WFLA urges anyone who attended the Monster Jam event on January 16 or February 6 to contact detectives.
’Dr. Drew’ airs Monday through Thursday on HLN at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on Facebook and Twitter @DrDrewHLN .