![]()
So you think your kids are safe on the computer? You think your
spouse isn't having a little online cyber affair? Well we have got
some news for you We have put together a small portion of news stories
that we came across in 2004 and compiled them here just for you.
It is our firm belief that if your children or spouse are spending
more time on the Internet typing their lives away than they are
with you then you have a right to know what they are doing. When
they leave the house you usually know what they are doing right?
Leaving the house and going online are the same thing only the Internet
may very well be more dangerous, especially for kids.
Teen lured on Net The story starts like this: Coach sentenced for Internet offense This is a boys and girls basketball coach. The story goes like
this: A trained, alert parent would have noticed something was amiss.
Parents are the front line of defense against all sorts of predators
and should stay alert for the warnings signs. Nervous behavior or
attempts to hide Internet activity are signs a child is trying to
hide something. If your child becomes secretive or turns off the
computer or closes an application whenever you come into the room,
be suspicious be very suspicious. CHAT ROOM SICKO The story starts like this: Banning the Internet completely is a little extreme and it would be nice if parents could stand behind their child every minute they are on the computer but that isn't always possible. So what is a parent to do? Don't worry there are some options. Let's see what happened in March of 2004: Florida Man Arrested for Enticing Heartland Boy A couple excerpts from the news story: Wife Catches Husband Cheating With 4 Women Online Here are some of the highlights: How he lured a girl of 12 to fly away with him The summer holidays were upon her and she should have been looking
forward to a lazy summer. Instead: That is exactly what these Internet predators do, they groom their
prey as long as they need to gain their trust, they are a patient
people. Which should give parents plenty of time to see what is
going on. The police found out from looking into her computer that
the 12 year old was chatting online for sometimes 11 hours at a
time with her predator. The computer is not an electronic babysitter.
Parents need to know what is being done on the computer. Parents nightmare: Man held for luring teen A young Kerr County teen fell victim to a 24-year-old man she met
online. He is accused of driving all the way from the Austin area
to meet the young teen in Kerr County. Girl, 16, returned home Police charged a Virginia man Monday with abducting a Rocky Mount
teenage girl he met through an Internet chat room. This is a very typical scenario for kids today. They are chatting with anonymity and that let's them think they can do anything or be anybody while they are online. As often happens with children, what they do when they are not at home or when they are chatting online will filter into their everyday lives. If a child is lying when they are online chatting, then how long do you think it will take before they start lying to the parents? Not long, not long at all. Let's see what the headlines of May 2004 had to offer: Altoona teacher accused of having sex with teen A man, 51, met 16-year-old in Internet chat room. He was a graphic
arts teacher that taught at the Blair County vocational-technical
high school. He has been charged with luring a South Hills teen
to meet and have sex with him after encountering the girl last year
in an Internet chat room. Here is a must read news story of on of the victims telling her story, an interesting read. Here is the headline and some highlights of the story: Online Predators: A Victim Tells Her Story What started as an online conversation between her and another
person she thought was another kid ended in a sexual assault.
Internet meeting leads to arrest A 21-year-old Durham man is in Randolph County Jail facing 13 sex
crime charges, including rape, stemming from an alleged tryst arranged
via the Internet with a 12-year-old Asheboro girl at a motel in
the city. Cops: Girl lured online A 21-year-old construction worker from Inwood was held on $30,000
bond after he was arrested last week and charged with raping a 15-year-old
girl he met in a chat room on the Internet. Police said the man
drove the girl around Lynbrook before taking her to the Merrick
train station parking lot, where he forced her to have sex with
him in his car. Men Held For Taking Teen Girl Two men were being held at the Franklin County Jail in Ohio on
Wednesday afternoon after being charged with transporting a 14-year-old
girl from her Pike County home to Columbus, Ohio. Two charged with sex crimes against teen girl they met online The alleged victim in the case is a 14-year-old girl from the West
End of Monroe County. In the previous news stories, there were a couple very important points made that should make parents think a bit more. "Investigators later found e-mails and Internet chat room files on the girl's computer " and "both men met the girl in an Internet chat room last year" The 13 year old girl was chatting with these men for a year with the parents not knowing? Enough said. Let's take a little gander at the events of August 2004: Georgia man admits sexually exploiting Montana girl A Georgia man talked a Montana girl he met through the Internet into disrobing before a web cam so could see her genitalia. The man and the juvenile girl, who was 13 years, met in March 2002 on-line through a computer game. During a chat session, the man got the girl to again take off her shirt. When he requested the girl to go further, she eventually showed him web cam images of her genitalia for 10 to 15 minutes before a relative of the girl's walked into the room. Man Charged With Raping Girl He Met Over The Internet An Alabama man is behind bars, charged with raping a young Louisville
girl. Police say the man met the 12-year-old girl over the Internet,
then drove to Louisville and took her to an area motel. The first story is a bit unusual in that the man actually got the girl to undress for him in front of her web cam. Do your kids have a web cam? Apparently this shows how curious and trusting a 12-year old can be. Wouldn't you want to know just how curious they are getting and have some control over their curiosity? Parents can have that control. Here are a couple more headlines from September of 2004: Missing girl found alive, Fircrest man charged with sex crimes, kidnap In an upstairs bedroom, the 14-year-old girl curled
in a fetal position, wearing nothing but a plaid skirt. In another
bedroom draped in black plastic, officers found a bench, chains,
sex toys and a video camera. Physician charged with sexual assault A 31-year-old doctor faces a felony sexual assault
charge involving a relationship with a 14-year-old Warwick girl
he met in an Internet chat room. Do you still think kids are safe on the Internet? You can't trust doctors or teachers or the person next door. These headlines all start sounding the same after awhile. That's because the bottom line is that they are. They all stem from an Internet meeting between a child and an adult and none of them have a very happy ending. Here some more from October 2004: Man used Internet to lure girl, 14 A 32-year-old man moved from New York to New Holstein for a relationship with a 14-year-old girl he met on the Internet. He was arrested last week after he went to New Holstein High School, applied for a job and asked permission to take the girl to the homecoming dance. British Man Charged With Assault The 36-year-old man met his alleged victim, a 15-year-old Austin
girl, through an Internet chat room in which they communicated for
two and a half years. These stories show the persistence of these online predators. The first one actually moved and applied for a job to be with his victim. The second one, talk about persistence, chatted for two and a half years before actually flying to the U.S. to meet his victim. They need to be stopped. There's more, let's see what happened in November 2004: Online Predator Issues Warning A man who is currently serving a six-year term for molesting a
teenager he met over the Internet issued a warning for anyone whose
child spends time on the Internet, saying there are plenty of others
still out there who are just like him. I think that says enough. These predators are sick and your children just can't be trusted on the Internet alone or unmonitored. Now let's see what happened in December 2004: Doctor admits sex with underage girl 'Last Fling' PC Accused of Sex Attacks Man lures girl to car park via chat room Those are only some of the headlines from December. Looks about
the same as any other month, there was a Doctor, a Police Constable
and an ordinary man. It doesn't matter what month it is, or what
the occupation, or what part of the world, these people are out
there and they are looking for unsuspecting innocent children to
groom through an Internet chat room. Don't let that child be yours. |
|