The 11-year-old girl told Tampa police Detective Skyp McCaughey that the man in Maryland she talked to on her cell phone was so nice, he couldn't be a pervert.
In fact, he was a sex offender who struck up such a rapport with the girl that she spoke to him every night at midnight, McCaughey said.
McCaughey shared the anecdote about the child, who was not molested, on Tuesday before about 20 representatives from law enforcement, social service and other agencies. Their goal is to develop an action plan to better educate adults and youngsters about online dangers, said Thomas Papin, director of Hillsborough County Children's Services.
Parents mindful of their children's Internet use at home need to keep up with emerging technologies, the experts said. For instance, Google Maps Street View provides street-level photos that can show children at play, which could entice predators, said Stacie Rumenap, executive director of Stop Child Predators.
Resources are available at www.netsmartz411.org, from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Experts offer these tips:
• Limit the features on your child's cell phone. Phone providers can restrict which numbers your child calls.
• Warn teens against sending raunchy photos as jokes or as love notes.
• Look at the photos and messages on your child's phone regularly.
• Learn teen speak. The NetSmartz Web site has a dictionary of online abbreviations.
• Look up your house, your child's school and bus stop on www.maps. google.com to see whether your child's image has been captured. To remove an image, click on "Street View Help" in the top corner of the Street View image, then click on "Report Inappropriate Image."
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