As much as we'd all like to think that our kids are not at risk, an item like this appears and we find they could be. It is the one in a million chance that something happens to one child instead of another - in the same way that one person hits the lottery instead of another.
Two fourteen year old Upper Nazareth girls were seduced by a Berks county man via the internet.
Specific details are here (courtesy the Morning Call - read it here): Bret T. Lepore, 27, of 2903 Mannerchor Road, Muhlenberg Township, pleaded guilty this morning to two counts each of statutory sexual assault and two counts of corruption of minors.
This is a sad story with a horrible outcome. If you ever thought it couldn't happen to me, this is the one to remind you it could.
6 comments:
This is troubling on so many levels. It is rare in today's world to see kids outside. Why? Because as parents, we are afraid that a stranger may lure them away.
When was the last time you saw a group of kids riding bikes together or for that matter involved in an outside game in a neighboring yard?
Instead, we drive them to structured activities and lessons. When they come home they sit in front of the computer with their 'cyberfriends'. That is safer, right?
Most middle school aged kids these days rarely see the outside. They rarely interact face to face. If they are not at practice or another structured activity, they are talking to their cyberfriends on myspace or IM. Parent seem to feel better, because they are 'safe' at home.
It's simply not true. They don't always know who they are talking to. And when they do-- we are still not doing them any favors-- they are losing their ability to interact in person.
As a parent, I worry that we are creating a generation that cannot think for themselves and interact effectively. And they are still not any safer.
The fact that this story took place in our own community ought to be a wake up call to everyone.
Kids are going online at younger and younger ages and the filters won't catch everything, especially when kids are engaged in online social networks where they literally invite trouble.
The story notes this was not a single incident, but there were multiple occurrences that were described as "rough", yet the individual is out walking the streets and getting counseling.
The girls will undoubtedly need counseling, the guy needs to be locked up.
What are your kids doing on myspace?
I searched myspace for "Nazaret PA" and got 800 results see them here.
Sometimes I think maybe we (my wife and I) shelter our kids too much, by not letting them online regularly or being engaged in every activity, but then a story like this comes up and I'm more comfortable with our decisions.
It is troubling as the previous reader noted in so many ways.
For those parents that think it is impossible to know everything your children are doing online, that is not true.
There is a software package called eBlaster
http://www.spectorsoft.com/
That installs invisibly on your child's computer so they don't know it is there. The package will automatically and instantly email you a full transcript of any IM session they participate in and containing both sides.
It will also send you a summary report every day (or hourly) that tells you every email they sent or received (including the text of the email) and every web site they visited.
Had the parents in this article had this one their kids computers, I don't think we would have read this story.
Price, $100 per computer. Worth it? Definitely.
My kids now know that we can see everything they do online. We respect their privacy and only look at the things that are from people we don't know. However, them knowing we know is one heck of a deterent.
What are your kids doing on myspace? If they tell you that their profile is private and only their friends can see them -- you better look again. If they tell you that they put a fake address you better look again.
Everytime they post a comment to a friend's site-- if THAT site is not private-- their entire conversation is viewable to the world.
They are putting pictures out there. Commenting on how their day was, about other kids, teachers, intramural sports, etc... Seems harmless enough, but just because Suzy has her site 'private' and lists her address as 'nowhereland', she can still be found. How?? She is posting her picture in her Nazareth Middle school field hockey uniform on Joe's site (who is not private) with comments about math class on the orange team, etc...
My point is-- the people out there trying to find their next victim are very good at what they do and when these kids are putting so much personal info on the internet coupled with pictures, they are inviting trouble.
They are better off and far safer outside with a group of friends learning how to interact with others.
Sitting alone in the house with a computer is not safe or healthy. If you are not adept with technology and your children are on-line, you are asking for trouble.
If anyone is wondering how a high school student gets that far only having a 5th grade reading level -- perhaps you have never seen an exchange on myspace or IM.
Here is an example taken straight from a Nazareth Middle school student's myspace page (I changed the name of the student, left pictures out and picked a very tame exchange-- others are much more explicit):
'sup, nigga'
'not much, sup wit yu?'
'we def need to hang out soon!'
'we def need to!'
'did you hear what Suzy said today?' wtf
'idk, she's not my friend anymore'
'lol ;P'
Our children cyberspeak in acronyms. You really don't need much more if your only form of interpersonal communication is through a computer.
If you can't follow the conversation above -- OMG!!!
I blame both parties involved for what happened. The girls knew exactly what they were doing, as did he.
I dont think Mr.LePore should be the only one held accountable in this situation. Neither of these girls were "seduced" into doing anything. They did it out of their own free will, ended up regretting it (as did he) and now LePore has to pay for it. However, he shouldnt have had any (sexual) relations with them knowing their age. These girls should have been more closely monitored and he should have known better.
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