The messages turned sexual in nature and the suspect sent the teen a partial photo of himself in the nude. He asked that the victim send him a nude photo of herself, but she did not comply with the request. He also told her he was in love with her and thinks of her all the time.
The father was advised to contact Facebook authorities to report the activity and to block the suspect from the victim’s account.
The LaPorte City Police Department said that while the Internet is a “fantastic device for surfing the web and has an endless list of possibilities for communication and resources,” some individuals also abuse the Internet. Some people use the Internet to prey on children for a number of reasons – mainly for sexually purposes.
One of the ways that cyber predators lure children in is through “grooming,” that is, a process in which predators manipulate children into trusting them and getting them to agree to meet with them in person or virtually. The important part about all of this is being aware of the safety and legal ways we can use to protect our children against these types of individuals. Some of the laws that are now in existence are; The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), S. 1492: Broad band Data Improvement Act, and Senate Bill 62. All of these are laws that have been enacted as a way to improve Internet safety and lessen our children’s chance of falling prey to cyber predators.
To learn more about ways to protect our children from cyber predators, watch the following safety video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35PmCbxVgHg
