By: Sarah Langbein
Orlando Sentinel

January 11, 2008


After the kids at Lee Middle School had gone home Thursday, parents filed into the auditorium for their own lessons.

With notebooks and a list of questions, parents, grandparents and concerned Internet users learned the basics of Web safety.

They heard about ways to spot cyberpredators and child victims and tips to be vigilant.

The event, hosted by Congressman Ric Keller, R-Orlando, featured Attorney General Bill McCollum, whose office recently opened a CyberCrime Unit in Orlando, and FBI Special Agent Nick Savage, who heads his office's crimes against children unit and the Innocent Images Task Force.

"The best thing we can do is have kids be aware and have parents take precautions," McCollum told the crowd of 50.

Faces in the room showed surprise and disgust when Savage revealed that within the last year one in seven minors received a sexual advance over the Internet -- and that in that same time, one in four were exposed to unwanted pornographic images.

"They're often in our child's bedroom via the computer," Keller said of the predators.

That's what worries grandmother Paula Grant, who said her granddaughters have access to her computer, which is out of her sight, and they recently got a computer at their home.

But it's not just predators she's concerned about. The recent case of a 13-year-old St. Louis girl who committed suicide after she was allegedly taunted on MySpace by a former friend's mother really struck a chord with her.

Many parents, through their questions, revealed that their children had already received suggestive and overt sexual advances online.

They wanted a set list of ways to protect their kids, but learned it isn't that easy.

There used to be a mold that fit victims and pedophiles, but the availability of the Internet has made it easy for anyone to be victimized and anyone to prey upon children, Savage said.

"Look. Investigate. Ask the tough questions," Savage told them.