Posted on 02/03/2006 1:21:31 AM PST by freepatriot32
HARTFORD, Conn. - Police are investigating whether as many as seven teenage girls have been sexually assaulted by men they met through the popular Web site MySpace.com.
The girls, ages 12 to 16, are from Middletown and say they were fondled or had consensual sex with men who turned out to be older than they claimed. None of the incidents appeared to be violent, said Middletown Police Sgt. Bill McKenna.
He said it was difficult to determine the exact number of victims because some girls have been reluctant to disclose that they met their assailants online.
The social networking Web site allows users to create profiles that can include photos, personal information and even cell phone numbers.
In a statement Thursday, MySpace.com said it was committed to providing a safe environment for its users. The site, which includes safety tips, also prohibits use by anyone younger than 14, though a disclaimer says the people who run the site can't always tell if users are lying about their ages.
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On the Net:
http://www.myspace.com
Good gawd. Can't they meet each other on regular "Hi, I'm Jane/Joe. I'm 25 and look like this..", chat sites?
ANY freaking webspace allows you to publish all those things, too. I wish people would quit blaming a particular technology or program (MySpace, file-sharing, chat, etc.) for stupid things some people do with it.
Our babysitter didn't want to get her friend in trouble, but was also worried about her. It was decided that my wife would speak to the mother, which apparently was helpful.
You've just hit on the root of many such problems...poor or nonexistent parenting.
overexposing yourself on the internet eh?
two words... Amanda Wenk
Our community policing officer told us at our Neighborhood Watch meeting to "Keep your kids off Myspace."
My problem with myspace is that parents aren't aware of the layers on the site. Sure it looks like a blog, but without even trying, any kid can pull up pornographic pictures, even if they're not looking for them.
See somebody's profile, click on to look at "more photos" and boom, their "more photos" are pornographic. Myspace tries to edit out these types of photos, but the site is just too big, IMHO, for them to keep up with all the posters, so parents should beware of the possibility.
Agree with you, but no parent in their right mind should think myspace.com is some benign site for teens to socialize (and yes, I know that's probably not the full message of this article.) The site is trashy, with a lot of violent, pornographic, and drug-related messages. Definitely adults only.
Oh, after re-reading when I woke up...I thought it was Space.com at first.
I have a profile on myspace but I found the place to be
A) Horribly designed
B) Annoying with the crap people place on their page
C) Explicit - Seems to have no moderation for the images people place there.
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