KANSAS CITY, MO -
A St. Joseph pastor is charged with enticing a 13-year-old girl online. But police say that this wasn't the only teen Robert Black contacted on Facebook, raising the question as to why 135 metro kids became online friends with a 40-year-old complete stranger.
Clay County authorities say that Robert Black used the alias "Jon Still" on Facebook to get close to metro teens. According to police, the online profile stated that he was a 40-year-old man, and no pictures were posted.
It would seem that should be a red flag for teens, but police say that many teens accepted his online friendship, giving him access to their personal information.
"I think there's a real desire to go out there and seek some attention and also to gain some self-esteem, through how "cool" you are, with friends," said Allison Basinger, a prevention coordinator with Safehome. She works with metro students, educating them on dangers like online networking.
"It's cool to have 600 friends, when nobody has 600 friends," said Basinger, who says that kids have a real disconnect between what's an appropriate friendship and what's not appropriate. "I think a lot of kids have no idea who they're accepting to be their friend."
Government statistics show that 79 percent of teens admit that they're not careful about the personal information that they provide online, and 64 percent of teens say that they do things online that they don't want their parents to know about. Detective Jeff Harman of the Clay County Sheriff's Department Cyber Crimes Unit says that's not OK.
"If there's a Facebook, parents need to have that password and be able to go through that Facebook and look at the different stuff that's on there," said Det. Harman.
"There are so many parents who have no idea what their kids profiles are like online, what their kids are saying online, they just have no idea," said Basinger. "They'd be blown away."
But Basinger emphasizes that online networking should not be off-limits to children because this is the way teens socialize and network. She does say that instead, kids need to be taught boundaries, because a predator can be virtually anybody.
"It's anybody," said Basinger. "This being a pastor shows us that. That's why it's so important for parents to be in tune, because you can't pick them out, it's not written on their heads."
If you or your children had Facebook contact with "Jon Still," please call the Clay County Sheriff's Department at (816) 407-3700.
Clay County authorities say that Robert Black used the alias "Jon Still" on Facebook to get close to metro teens. According to police, the online profile stated that he was a 40-year-old man, and no pictures were posted.
It would seem that should be a red flag for teens, but police say that many teens accepted his online friendship, giving him access to their personal information.
"I think there's a real desire to go out there and seek some attention and also to gain some self-esteem, through how "cool" you are, with friends," said Allison Basinger, a prevention coordinator with Safehome. She works with metro students, educating them on dangers like online networking.
"It's cool to have 600 friends, when nobody has 600 friends," said Basinger, who says that kids have a real disconnect between what's an appropriate friendship and what's not appropriate. "I think a lot of kids have no idea who they're accepting to be their friend."
Government statistics show that 79 percent of teens admit that they're not careful about the personal information that they provide online, and 64 percent of teens say that they do things online that they don't want their parents to know about. Detective Jeff Harman of the Clay County Sheriff's Department Cyber Crimes Unit says that's not OK.
"If there's a Facebook, parents need to have that password and be able to go through that Facebook and look at the different stuff that's on there," said Det. Harman.
"There are so many parents who have no idea what their kids profiles are like online, what their kids are saying online, they just have no idea," said Basinger. "They'd be blown away."
But Basinger emphasizes that online networking should not be off-limits to children because this is the way teens socialize and network. She does say that instead, kids need to be taught boundaries, because a predator can be virtually anybody.
"It's anybody," said Basinger. "This being a pastor shows us that. That's why it's so important for parents to be in tune, because you can't pick them out, it's not written on their heads."
If you or your children had Facebook contact with "Jon Still," please call the Clay County Sheriff's Department at (816) 407-3700.
