Teen abuducted by facebook friend

[ozarkmom]

I just saw on the local news a 16 year old Oklahoma girl was abducted by a convicted offender after chatting some time on facebook. Her sisters awoke to see her getting in a truck with a strange man. The police even called the man and told him the girl was 16 and to bring her back. They found the two at his home in Kansas. He had been convicted in 1994 for indecency with a 14 year old. I have told moms that I know to pay attention to who their kids are "friends" with on these sites. I'm amazed at the teenagers some as young as 13 who are friends with 20 somethings.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Ugh... facebook strikes again!! (I'm so not a fan for various reasons)

I hope the girl is returned safe and sound. Her poor family!!

 

[wdwiala]

Facebook is just a tool that pervs use. If it wasn't there they would find something else. I find no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. I watch my daughters internet use carefully.

Yet....we just had a 12 year old local girl picked up from school by a man, 35 years old, who lived across the country. I believe he found her on the internet. He picked her up and took her back to Florida. He was keeping her in a tent near his home. If you want my guess, I would say that he never intended to bring her home. She most likely would have ended up dead if it wasn't for the quick work of authorities to find her and bring her home a couple of days later.

Very scary. Just like everything else, parents need to keep a sharp eye on their childrens activities and friends. It's a whole new world out there. (All of my daughters facebook notices come straight to one of my emails, I don't think that she knows this.

 

[WestCOT]

the internet sucks

 

[JoiseyMom]

the internet sucks

No it doesn't, perverts suck. Parents have a job do to, to keep their kids safe and to know what they are doing. I have a 14 year old, she is not on any internet social networking sight. If she would I would have full access to her page at all times. She has an email account (that she rarely uses) and an AIM account that she needs to have her dad ask for permission to add a friend.

 

[Acklander]

Perverts have always been there. The only reason why you hear about it so much now is that with the internet, it makes it much easier to catch them.

 

[worm761]

My 14 year old son has facebook page that he only plays games on. All but one of his friends is a family member. Though my son is a different case because he has Aspergers. But the rule is, if you have a password....I know it. If I don't have the password, or find out you have one I don't know about, I will block the site.

Now, my niece on the other hand. She is 15. Her profile says she is 20. Her mother knows about it and her father set it up for her! Parenting at its best right there. So every now and again, my other sister and I will post on her wall that she needs to changer her birthday to reflect her real age and post her age. I know it isn't my business but my older sister is too busy trying to be her best friend to be a parent. I would rather an upset niece and sister than a dead niece and grieving sister. She thinks I am over reacting.

 

[WestCOT]

No it doesn't, perverts suck. Parents have a job do to, to keep their kids safe and to know what they are doing. I have a 14 year old, she is not on any internet social networking sight. If she would I would have full access to her page at all times. She has an email account (that she rarely uses) and an AIM account that she needs to have her dad ask for permission to add a friend.

the internet also sucks

 

[boyob13]

the internet also sucks

Well, okay.

It is scary that people can get abducted more easily now, but the same can be used for finding them. This is why a lot of these stories are heard now, since we can actually do something that has a chance to find them.

 

[Squidgyness]

Why do people not follow the "don't speak to strangers" rules on the internet?

I see no viable reason not to follow standard safety procerdures on the net, and even grown adults do it too.

One woman, when contacted by a friend (or as she said "soulmate" ) re-mortgaged her house and gave him £45,000 to help him in Iraq. He then wanted £120,000 to free him from "Terrorists".

The police caught her before she tried to sell her house. He didn't even EXIST.

A grown woman, honestly.

I often believe these people are the ones that would have been eaten by lions in our early evolution, or ate the bright red poisonous mushroom, were it not for their relatives.

 

[Ceila]

the internet also sucks

Then why are you on it?

Do you believe that sports teams, schools, and churches also "suck," since pedophiles have used those groups to prey on children as they have used the internet?

I don't believe there is a problem with the internet. There is a problem with people who prey on children.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I don't understand why this girl was friends with a guy she didn't know. And why here parents were either OK with that, or didn't know.

 

[Rora]

Terrible. Why do kids/teens get themselves involved in these scary situations? The "Stranger Rule" still applies even on the PC.

 

[lovesmurfs]

the internet sucks

It's just a new venue for what's been going on since pervs began. In HS (well before the Internet), a friend of mine (up to then, pretty stable) got a prison pen pal and nearly ended up meeting him (convicted for rape and sex with a minor) on his day of release. Friends and family got involved, and everything was all right, but I hate to think of what might have happened.

 

[bicker]

Indeed, there is nothing new going on here, except that it is a bit easier to track the pervs online as compared to when they stalked without using the Internet, and our sensationalistic media does a much better job at broadcasting news of salacious crimes.

 

[Tiger926]

As a highschool teacher, I can assure you all it's not as easy as knowing your kids' Internet "friends." So, said pervert or older person poses as a teen, what then? Or, what if your kid encourages an older person to pose as a school friend in order to hide from parents? Are you going to go to science class and demand to meet said Internet friend? I don't think so...

Many teens not only hide info, they manipulate it...constantly. It's not as easy as just understanding your kids - that is showing a lack of understanding as a parent, IMHO. I have teens who are texting drug dealers during the day (we just expelled one the other day). Parents have no clue as dealer poses as a school friend. Due to privacy laws and confidentiality, I can't tell you as the parent if dealer is actually a real person. You are not allowed to come into my school and demand this info. If you do it one too many times, we are then going to call the police on you.

The Internet, coupled with privacy laws, and the insane usage of cell phones by teens, has made a big, bad world that is almost impossible for parents, even the best parents, to keep 100% track of. I am excepting dumb parents in this equation, and I do see a lot of those around - even here on these boards. So many adults seemed obssessed with Facebook, etc., and they are accepting strangers as "friends" or old highschool peers they haven't seen in 20 years! A lot can change in that amount of time...You don't know that person anymore...

So, from where I stand, there are a lot of dumb parents/adults around, but there is also the lure of the Internet and the culture of secrecy that it seems to perpetuate. The Internet is useful for many things, but it's also created a culture of secrecy and deception that is almost impossible to totally penetrate.

Tiger

 

[luvsJack]

As a highschool teacher, I can assure you all it's not as easy as knowing your kids' Internet "friends." So, said pervert or older person poses as a teen, what then? Or, what if your kid encourages an older person to pose as a school friend in order to hide from parents? Are you going to go to science class and demand to meet said Internet friend? I don't think so...

Many teens not only hide info, they manipulate it...constantly. It's not as easy as just understanding your kids - that is showing a lack of understanding as a parent, IMHO. I have teens who are texting drug dealers during the day (we just expelled one the other day). Parents have no clue as dealer poses as a school friend. Due to privacy laws and confidentiality, I can't tell you as the parent if dealer is actually a real person. You are not allowed to come into my school and demand this info. If you do it one too many times, we are then going to call the police on you.

The Internet, coupled with privacy laws, and the insane usage of cell phones by teens, has made a big, bad world that is almost impossible for parents, even the best parents, to keep 100% track of. I am excepting dumb parents in this equation, and I do so a lot of those around - even here on these boards. So many adults seemed obssessed with Facebook, etc., and they are accepting strangers as "friends" or old highschool peers they haven't seen in 20 years! A lot can change in that amount of time...You don't know that person anymore...

So, from where I stand, there are a lot of dumb parents/adults around, but there is also the lure of the Internet and the culture of secrecy that it seems to perpetuate. The Internet is useful for many things, but it's also created a culture of secrecy and deception that is almost impossible to totally penetrate.

Tiger

You have a really, really good point about a pervert posing as a kid.

Just as in anything, I would think that the most important thing for parents to do is TALK to their teens. Warn them of all the dangers of talking to people they don't know, and of warning signs that may come up with people they think they do know, tell them about these things going on in the news. And keep an eye on what they are doing on the internet. DD is a bit younger but I am constantly in the room where she is online and I get up and look over her shoulder occasionally, especially if she is chatting with someone. But, that it no way assures me that she is 100% safe.