After a recent sexting incident in which someone allegedly coerced a Buffalo Grove child into sending naked photos of herself, police investigators are urging parents to be more attentive to the mobile applications on their children's devices.
"It's a symptom of a hyper-connected world," Deputy Chief Roy Bethge said. "We certainly have seen more and more of these cases, with a wide variety of apps."
The latest incident for Buffalo Grove police happened June 18, when a 9-year-old child told her mother she had taken naked pictures of herself and then sent them to a stranger, police said.
According to a police report, the girl had been speaking for about a month with someone through Music.ly, an application that allows users to create and share short videos.
The unknown person at first claimed to be another young girl and sent the Buffalo Grove girl a photo of a naked girl, saying it was of themselves, police said. The Buffalo Grove child then sent a photo of herself back.
The person started asking the girl to meet in a park and later claimed to be a 24-year-old man, police said.
The Buffalo Grove girl eventually tried to break off communication, and the user threatened to tell her parents about what she had done. The child then decided to tell her mom about the incident, police said.
Bethge said investigators are now trying to track down the identity and location of the user.
"Certainly, that's not easy, by any means," he said, adding how some sexual predators use sophisticated means to disguise their digital tracks. "We try to do a really aggressive job of educating the public on the dangers of these kinds of applications."
rwachter@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
Source: Buffalo Grove police warn about sexting, mobile apps after child shares nude photo with stranger
No comments:
Post a Comment