Informative, important and useful presentation yesterday evening at the middle school for parents by the PA Attorney General’s office on safe surfing practices for children on the internet. Two very disturbing stories of 13 year old girls groomed, kidnapped, raped and one child killed by internet child predators. Apparently 1 in 5 teenagers have been sexually solicited on the internet by men posing as children mainly in chat rooms and through IM. Agent LeCadre from the Attorney General’s office who spoke to us works in the internet crimes unit in Harrisburg. Just a wonderful man–he had earlier spoken to the middle school sixth, seventh and eighth graders on what to do and what not to do on the internet and how to use cell phones text messaging etc without compromising their safety and security. The immediate reason why our school district called the AG’s office was the disturbing incident last week when a eighth grade girl from our middle school took a picture of herself masturbating on her cellphone and sent it to her boyfriend in ninth grade. Ninth grade boyfriends being who they are sent it to other boys and other boys and other girls and pretty soon it was on YouTube. The DA’s office learned about it when one of the kids dialed a wrong number to send the picture yet again and a 50 yr old woman in Montoursville got the picture and saw that it was a pornographic image of a child. She called the FBI and thus began the investigation. The girl, the boy, the friends they are all in juvenile court now. This has been an upsetting week needless to say to the community and to the families of the kids involved.  Agent LeCadre said that when he spoke to the kids earlier today and showed them and told them no holds barred what child predators do to kids who make themselves vulnerable to them—he said they understood. It is a deadly combination when ignorance and lack of guidance combine with hormones. I am glad and relieved that the school district acted so swiftly to put corrective measures in place.  I hope all the children involved–especially the girl and the boy–are rehabilitated, redirected and turned back to studying and making something of themselves in life instead of all of this.

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