Net Nanny Helps Catch a Predator
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
-One mother’s forethought to protect her daughter online saved her from further abuse and
prevented other girls from being abusedOverview
In the age when texting and instant messaging (IM) have become common ways for teens to
communicate, most parents are amazingly unaware of the need to protect their children from
predators and inappropriate communication. A New York mother made a proactive decision to
install content filtering / Internet monitoring software on her 15-year old daughter’s laptop,
ultimately removing her daughter from a dangerous situation and putting a predator in jail.
*names in this case study have been changed to protect the victim and her family from further
persecution and harm.
Situation
In October 2009, April* researched Internet filtering software
options for her daughter, Sabrina’s* new laptop. Remembering
a news story she watched about Net Nanny’s parental controls
software, she decided to purchase and install it on Sabrina’s
laptop.
“It is so important that
parents protect their
children. I would like to
see Net Nanny put on
every computer in homes
with kids.”
From the beginning, April was monitoring her daughter’s online and IM activity through Net
Nanny reports and notification alerts, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Around
February 2010, Sabrina met 20-year-old John* through mutual friends at a party. They began
communicating by text, then email and IM on Yahoo Messenger. Sabrina was honest with her
mother that she liked him, but April refused to allow her to date someone his age. She would
become angry with her mother over the situation, but seemed to adhere to her mother’s
direction.
“I later found out that John was picking Sabrina up at night after she had gone to bed, then
returning her home before morning,” said April. “The seemingly innocent friendship had
developed into a sexual relationship and he was photographing those acts with my daughter.”
The first time April was alerted to inappropriate communication between Sabrina and John was
in June 2010, when she returned from a trip and found suspicious phone numbers on a family
member’s cell phone. She began investigating further. She reviewed the Net Nanny reports and
found that Net Nanny had flagged quite a few IM conversations as dangerous. She later learned
that John had been grooming Sabrina with sexually explicit messages for months through text
messages, going around the safeguard April had established for her daughter.
“When I read those conversations, I was shocked and disgusted,” April said. “I could not believe
this was going on and had to find an immediate resolution.”
Sabrina was at school when April found the conversations, so she immediately contacted
police. They were able to identify John by tracing his computer’s IP address and had enough
information to obtain a search warrant. Upon searching his computer, they found transcripts of
explicit conversations and photographs with a number
According the National
Center for Missing and
Exploited Children:
of other girls. He was having similar relationships with
other girls Sabrina’s age.
Solution
• One in seven kids received a
sexual solicitation online.
When Sabrina was confronted about the situation, she
defended John and did not want to get him into trouble.
• Over half (56%) of kids
sexually solicited online were
asked to send a picture; 27%
of the pictures were sexuallyoriented in nature.
She believed he cared for her and they had a real
relationship. She was in denial about the circumstances
of their relationship until police showed her numerous
photos of other girls and transcripts of the chats he had
with them, very similar in content to hers. She was devastated and heartbroken, then realizing
she was a victim to John’s lies.
“John was grooming Sabrina from the very beginning,” said April. “He knew she loved muscle
cars like Mustangs and Camaros. He drove a Camaro, which further enticed her to go with him.”
In late 2009, Net Nanny software added features to address the growing trend of predator
grooming on social networking sites, IM, and texting. Net Nanny’s improved Internet safety
Message Monitor feature examines the content of IM conversations and alerts parents via email of potential online predatory, cyberbullying, and other inappropriate behavior or
comments made. Net Nanny covers both application and web-based IM protocols like
Facebook, MySpace, MSN, and Yahoo.
Results / Benefits
April’s documented proof of the conversations between Sabrina and John helped police arrest
and charge John with disseminating indecent material to a minor in the first degree. He was
sentenced to serve six months in jail, 10 years probation and is required to register as a level
one sex offender.
“The police were amazed that with Net Nanny’s reports, I had all the proof they needed to get
the conviction,” said April.
Sabrina has received counseling to help her address her role in the abuse and she is currently
only allowed to use the Internet when April is with her. Sabrina and April are working through
this together and making efforts to regain trust again. “Sabrina was a victim,” said April. “But,
she also had to face that she broke trust between us and has to work to get it back. I am
grateful I was able to help her before she or other girls were hurt further by this man.”
About ContentWatch, Inc.
Based in Salt Lake City, ContentWatch delivers Internet security solutions for the consumer and
business markets. ContentWatch intends to lead the global industry with Internet management
tools and services that employ its patent-pending contextual analysis engine to provide a safer,
more productive Internet experience. ContentWatch delivers Internet Management solutions in
more than 157 countries, and is the Reviewer’s Choice for Government Computer News and
Editors’ Choice for PCMag and ComputerWorld.
For more information visit www.contentwatch.com or follow www.twitter.com/netnanny on
Twitter.