You buy the best car seat. You diligently track vaccination schedules. You warn them about strangers who offer candy. But, because of people like Craig Curtis, your child needs more protection.

Curtis, 36, was convicted in December 2008 for organizing a scheme to steal children’s identities, and use their Social Security numbers to buy luxury cars and expensive townhouses in Houston. Most of the townhouses were in foreclosure within a year of being purchased.

He was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in federal prison for wire fraud and an additional two years for aggravated identity theft. He must also pay $2,085,396 in restitution to lenders, and will serve three more years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

But, none of that is going to repair the damage done to children whose credit records now show they bought houses that ended up in foreclosure. Presumably, the young victims’ families know now about the ID theft, but correcting the credit files can take years, and in some cases, the errors may never be fully resolved.

Typically, children don’t have credit records. But, the first time a credit application is made using a child’s Social Security number, the file is created, and whatever birth date is used on the application becomes a permanent part of the file.

According to a recent study by Javelin Strategy and Research, 5% of children have at least one credit report using their Social Security number; among those 5%, the children have an average of $12,779 in fraudulent or wrongly assigned debt.

LifeLock was the first identity theft protection service to provide protection for children. Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about their services. Enroll using the LifeLock promotion code DEFENSE and protect your children for as little as $2.25 a month and get 30 days of free protection.