One Teenagers Internet Nightmare Part 2

The next morning, the first thing Jake did was look at her picture again to see if it was all a dream, or maybe a nightmare depending on how he thought about it. The picture was right there on the computer where he hid it. Oh yeah, it was still there all right.

By the time Jake left for school, he knew he would have a hard time waiting until after school to chat with her again. He was right. It was the longest day he ever remembered. He had a hard time concentrating or talking to his friends. Jake thinks he probably failed his math test because he couldn't stop thinking about her. How am I going to explain that one to my parents, he thinks. He's never failed a test in his life. There was only one thing on his mind. SexyChick09123. And she was online waiting for him to get home just like she promised. She had a plan for a meeting.

She said that her uncle was going to be in Jakes area on business in two days and she could go with him as she sometimes did. They were to meet in the park just a couple blocks away from Jakes house at noon on Saturday. The only bad thing about it was she wouldn't be able to chat from now until then because she had to finish a major school project before she could go. Her uncle said that they could spend a couple of hours talking and then they had to get back.

Jake could deal with that. He thinks, I can spend two hours with her face to face and then go back home and get my life straightened out. He felt kind of guilty about disobeying his parents but he figures he only broke a couple of the Internet rules and there is no way that they can find out about that. He has learned to cover his tracks very well when it comes to the computer.

As he is leaving for the park on Saturday morning, his mother asks him if he felt all right, that he looked a little distracted. Jake say's, "No Mom I'm fine." She says, "Where are you going, aren't you going to have some lunch?" "No Mom, I had a big breakfast and I'm just going over to Phil's house to play some video games. I'll be home around 3," Jake replies.

Jake arrives at the park a little before noon. He doesn't see SexyChick09123. He does see a few younger kids congregated in the playground area and some of the older kids playing a game of touch football over in the far field. All in all it's a pretty typical Saturday. As he's walking through the parking lot on the way to the picnic area, a man gets out of this big green Cadillac. He's looking at a piece of paper and says, "Hey there young man, you must be Jake. I'm Anna's uncle Josh."

Jakes thoughts go into a whirlwind. Did I tell her my name? He's looking at the picture I sent her. I don't even know her real name. Of course, she couldn't tell her uncle her online name is SexyChick09123. I must have told her my name in one conversation or another. Jake recovers his composure and says, "Yes sir, my name is Jake but where is Anna? She said she was going to meet me here in the park." "She's over at the hotel by the mall taking a shower, she spilled her orange juice on her shirt on the ride over and she didn't want you to see her like that. We can only stay for a little while so hop in and I'll bring you over to the hotel and you two can hang out at the pool for a while. Then I'll bring you back here on the way out of town." He replies. Jake thinks that uncle Josh looks harmless enough so he says, "Okay, sounds good. Thank you" and hops in the car. As they leave the park and the doors automatically lock, Jake has a horrible revelation. The license plate on the car was from out of state and it read "SC09123".

Jake was never heard from again. It was like he just slipped into another world.

The authorities went through his computer and found out Jake has been chatting with someone, somewhere in Georgia for the last six months. That's the best they could do though. The authorities did mention to Jake's parents about some of the things that could have been done to avoid this nightmare. Things like keeping the computer in the dining room instead of his bedroom so he could have been watched a little closer. They also told him about some computer monitoring programs they could have installed on his computer so they could know exactly what he was doing and who he was chatting with at all times. Yes, this nightmare could have been avoided.

This story is just a scenario about how an Internet groomer might lure a gullible young child into a face to face meeting via a chat room or Instant Messenger. In reality, scenarios like this do happen more than they should. Check out the News page for some recent real life nightmares. Keep the kids safe on the Internet!