Another cautionary tale
Our daughter was seduced by a man in cyberspace and then she disappeared…
For those people who still refuse to check on their kids’ internet activities or “trust” them please read the linked article. It’s about a 16-year-old girl from the U.K. who was groomed by a 20-year-old over the social site Bebo and has now run away from home and remains missing. After reading this article and you still think that not monitoring your kids online is no big deal then you have no right to call yourself a parent.
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POSTED IN: Missing
3 opinions for Another cautionary tale
jade
Aug 23, 2007 at 8:19 pm
jeebus, that’s sad. and scary.
KDuba
Aug 24, 2007 at 10:22 am
Very scary.
David
Aug 24, 2007 at 2:22 pm
This is a sad story, but its important to note a few things.
1. The kind of control and emotional abuse exhibitted by the 20 year old takes place all across this nation in abusive dating relationships. It is not limited to relationships where the partner was met on the internet OR where the partner is even necessarily older. These controlling behaviors could just as easily occur if she had met a boy the same age at her high school.
2. From reading the stroy, it doesn’t seems as if there is any evidence to suggest that actually ran away to be with the 20 year old…I’m sure the police THOROUGHLY investigated him when the parents told their story and the girl had gone missing. There’s also no mention in the story of him being anything but completely cooperative. Even after this girl disappeared, it does not state that the boy did. I would imagine that if she was with him then the police would have either found her, or he would have fled, but he didn’t. Despite those facts, almost the entire article focuses on his “grooming” behavior.
3. Finally, if your child runs away to wales for the week, Why the hell don’t you unplug that internet connection? The mother states very clearly that the computer was in the bedroom because she always trusted her daughter…but guess what? After she lies to you and goes to Wales for the week with a boy you’ve never met…you have a reason to not trust her anymore! take away her cell phone, AND her computer, and get her some counseling ASAP!
This story is not sad because the effect of predators on society is to make us helpless. It is sad because there was so much that could have been done to prevent this tragedy. There were red flags and warnings all along the way, and yet it was allowed to happen.
Do I think the 20 year old was a dreamboat? NO. But do I think he groomed this girl for kidnapping?…no I don’t.
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