Pandora's Blog

A second teenage suicide in New York as a result of severe bullying has prompted lawmakers to introduce legislation that would treat cyberbullying as a crime. Pandora Corp. co-founder James Leasure discusses the importance and responsibility of parents to fight the cyberbullying epidemic in their own homes…

Bronx, NY (PRWEB) January 13, 2012 — Two days after Christmas, 15-year-old Amanda Cummings from Staten Island New York threw herself in front of a bus while clutching a suicide note. According to the Staten Island Advance, family members say her suicide was her last resort after years of torment from her peers, which had evolved to bullying online. This was the second cyberbullying-related teen suicide in New York in just over three months. Pandora Corp., maker of PC Pandora computer monitoring software, is urging parents to fight cyberbullying through awareness of Internet activity in their own homes.

According to a new poll conducted by global research company Ipsos for Reuters News, 12-percent of parents around the world say their children have experienced cyberbullying. One in four (24-percent) state they are aware of a child in their community who has experienced bullying online. Furthermore, 77-percent of parents around the world say “cyberbullying needs special attention from parents and schools.”

Says Pandora Corp co-founder James Leasure: “At some level, almost everyone agrees – this is a topic that no parent can afford to ignore. We cannot sit back and wait until our child is a victim; we must take steps to prevent the bullying from occurring.”

Now, in reaction to the two recent tragedies in New York, some legislators are going after cyberbullies. According to the Huffington Post, Senator Jeffrey D. Klein (D- Bronx/Westchester) said in a statement: “This legislation will give prosecutors the tools they need to treat cyberbullying as the crime it is and also send a message that this type of reckless and potentially deadly behavior will not be tolerated.”

The website also reports that Klein’s bill would update existing stalking and harassment laws to include cyberbullying. It would also allow certain types of cyberbullying to be prosecuted as hate crimes.

“Legislation is a start” states Leasure, “but it only gives law enforcement and schools the ability to help victims after a bully is caught. The real key to ending this problem is by parents knowing how their kids are using their Internet connected devices and how they are treating others on the Internet.”

“The reality is that most parents know when their child is being victimized,” says Leasure. “What parents never find out, until it is too late, is that their child was actually the bully. It is your job as a 21st century parent to know what happens on the Internet from within your home. That includes who your child is talking to, how they are representing themselves and how they are treating others.”

For more information on how you can stop cyberbullying, visit PC Pandora online at http://pcpandora.com and “like” the PC Pandora Facebook page!

About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal – to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in mid 2005, PC Pandora is continually being upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. The company website aims to help parents by providing them 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and Pandora’s Blog, where current news in the world of online safety is discussed regularly. Over the past few years, PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position by boasting a combination of features that are unparalleled in the monitoring industry. In 2010, Version 6.0 was released, again widening the spectrum of coverage and protection offered by the program. Concurrently released with 6.0, the web-based PC Pandora LIVE! service affords parents the ability to keep their kids safe from anywhere at anytime. PC Pandora is also now available through the Pandora Corp. store at Amazon.com and engaging fans on the PC Pandora Facebook page.

A teenager in North Carolina is charged with cyberbullying… I hate to sound like a broken record, but when parents use PC Pandora to monitor their child’s internet activity, stuff like this can be avoided…

January 24, 2012
Haw River 17-year-old faces cyberbullying charge
From the Times-News

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to conduct investigations related to social networking sites after charging two individuals with computer crimes.

According to a news release, investigators with the Computer Crimes and Forensics Investigation Unit issued a warrant Jan. 6 charging Joshua Shane Allen, 17, of Haw River with one count of cyber bullying. Allen allegedly took over the social network profile of a juvenile victim and made derogatory postings, and called the victim for coercion purposes. Read more ›

I usually try to keep the blog posts short and get on with the news, but this is news that merits a discussion here. It involves your kids.

I am sure you have heard about the changes Google and Facebook have announced in respect to the collection of user data and new format (respectively). There is an excellent article from USA Today teased below. PLEASE click that link and read the whole article.

What you need to know about Google is that there will be more integration between Google searching and Google+ and Gmail (which, the latter two, will soon also be hand-in-hand – can’t have one without the other). If your child is signed in to their profile and clicking away on the Internet and searching for stuff, they will start seeing relevant ads in their email screens and Google+ profile pages.

In Facebook, the new Timeline feature keeps a more detailed record and memory of every post and event (that you enter yourself) in your LIFE! In addition, according to the article, there are “60 apps specifically written for Timeline, [with which] consumers can provide a detailed account, often in real time, of the music they listen to, what they eat, where they shop — even where they jog.”

The bottom line is the same for both: they leave users far more exposed – but only if you are divulging the info!

This is the time to talk to your kids about not staying signed in to profiles all the time. This is the time to talk to them about limiting the amount of information they are putting out there about themselves. No one really needs to know what music they are listening to and what time they have practice after what school they go to. Before that, it had to more or less be a specific post; the new Timeline makes it an event (of sorts).

This is the tie to really talk to your kids about being active online and what that really means – you are making yourself visible to the WHOLE WORLD. It is also the time to get some PC Pandora monitoring software to keep an eye on what your kids are actually doing when they are in the internet. There is no reason for Google to know what your kids are searching for and for you not to know; there is no reason for strangers to know what your child’s afterschool activities are when you don’t know their favorite music (which they may also be telling everyone about).

It’s all about what you know, what your kids know … and what the rest of the world does not know.

READ THIS ARTICLE!!!

January 26, 2012
Consumers in the middle of Google-Facebook battle
By Byron Acohido, Scott Martin and Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

Google and Facebook might have finally gotten the average consumer riled up about privacy.

For the past two years, each company has experimented with different ways to divine more and more about how people live their lives on the Internet, without sparking a revolt.

But the plans the rivals announced on Tuesday, which critics say could dramatically rev up their respective abilities to gather intelligence on individual Internet users, seem to have struck a chord. An informal and unscientific survey of Web users by USA TODAY found a majority speaking out against the new business practices announced by Google and Facebook.

“It’s dangerous for two companies to have so much personal data, regardless of whether the specific threats of that data consolidation are immediately clear,” says Sarah Downey, a privacy analyst at software maker Abine.

Compelled to tap what many experts predict will be the next big Internet mother lode — online advertising — Google and Facebook laid down very big bets, during a week when European regulators are hashing out strict new rules that could prevent much of what the tech giants seek to do.

Google signaled its intent to begin correlating data about its users’ activities across all of its most popular services and across multiple devices. The goal: to deliver those richer behavior profiles to advertisers.

Likewise, Facebook announced it will soon make Timeline the new, more glitzy user interface for its service, mandatory.

Timeline is designed to chronologically assemble, automatically display and make globally accessible the preferences, acquaintances and activities for most of Facebook’s 800 million members. Read more ›

What a week!

2 different men being charged with molesting teenage boys they met on MySpace (a couple years ago)… Another man arrested for soliciting sex from a 15-year-old girl he met on Facebook… and a huge whopper of a sting operation in FLORIDA (again!) 40 guys were arrested including a professional golfer, a teacher, students (I assume college), professionals and more, including one guy that traveled from Alaska! I have put a few stories relating to Operation Red Cheeks below…

These are all more reasons parents need to be using a program like our PC Pandora monitoring software to know who their kids are talking to online and who is trying to talk to them!

A 12-year-old boy met a man in his 40s on Myspace in 2008… he was lured into sex multiple times in a relationship that lasted 3 years…

January 17, 2012
Houston man accused of sexually assaulting boy he met on MySpace
By KHOU.com staff

HOUSTON — A 43-year-old Houston man is accused of sexually assaulting a young boy het met on MySpace.

Christopher Gerard Glover is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14.

According to court documents the victim was 12 when he met Glover on the social networking site. Read more ›

A previously reported predator is back in the news and will stand trial soon for molesting the 16-year-old boy he met on Myspace a few years back…

January 23, 2012
Man Accused Of Molesting Boy Met On MySpace To Stand Trial
Jeffrey McPherson, 42, Accused Of Repeatedly Molesting Boy, 16
ABC 10 News San Diego

EL CAJON, Calif. — A man accused of repeatedly molesting a 16-year-old boy he met through MySpace.com must stand trial on eight felony charges, including oral copulation and sodomy on a child, a judge ruled Monday.

Jeffrey John McPherson, 42, will be arraigned on the charges Feb. 6. Read more ›

A 29-year-old man was arrested after he solicited sex from a 15-year-old girl through Facebook and text messages. Thankfully the girl told her parents who called the cops and set up a sting op.

January 20, 2012
Clearlake man arrested for allegedly propositioning teen for sex
Written by Lake County News reports

Jason James Russell, 29, of Clearlake, Calif., was arrested on Thursday, January 19, 2012, after he allegedly used Facebook and texts to contact a teenage girl and try to convince her to have sex with him. Lake County Jail photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An undercover operation conducted by detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit has led to the arrest of a Clearlake man who is alleged to have sent texts and Facebook messages in an effort to solicit sex from a teenage girl.

Jason James Russell, 29, was arrested Thursday afternoon on felony charges of lewd act on a child under 16 years of age, contact a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, arrange meeting with a minor to commit a sex offense, go to the arranged meeting to commit a sex offense, annoy or molest a child, solicit prostitution and probation violation. Read more ›

OPERATION RED CHEEKS!

January 18, 2012
Pro golfer arrested in Osceola child sex sting
‘Operation Red Cheeks’ nets 40 who traveled to Osceola for sex with ‘child,’ deputies say
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office today released new video of arrests in an undercover sting operation that culminated with the arrests of 40 people, including a former professional golfer.

The golfer, Steve Thomas, is seen in the video pleading with arresting deputies that he hasn’t “done anything wrong.” Other suspects arrested included a teacher, a retired beekeeper and several students.Read more ›

THIS ONE HAS MUG SHOTS OF ALL THE MEN!!!!

Operation Red Cheeks: 40 arrested in massive child sex sting, including pro-golfer, swim coach, teachers, college students and beekeeper

• PGA golfer Steve Thomas, 55, among those held
• Operation Red Cheeks was carried out across the Orlando, Florida, area with officers posing as children in chat rooms.
• Swim coach, eighth grade teacher, and eight college students also arrested
• When retired beekeeper, 70, was arrested he had wine and Viagra with him

By Beth Stebner, Daily Mail (UK)

A former PGA golf champion was busted, along with 40 others, including teachers, college students, and a retired beekeeper, in a week-long child sex sting.

‘Operation Red Cheeks’ began January 8 and involved several different crime-fighting organisations across the Orlando, Florida area posing as children in chat rooms.

Pro golfer Steve Thomas, 55, was charged with traveling to seduce an underage girl and using a computer to entice a legal guardian or parent to commit sex acts on an underage girl, according to officials. Read more ›

Fairhope man arrested in internet sex sting: fox10tv.com

The anti-cyberbullying bill is one step closer to becoming a law in Ohio; it passed in the Senate by a 31-1 vote.

I literally told a reporter this morning how PC Pandora monitoring software becomes essential for parents to use once this bill is law… because if they won’t check to make sure their child is not a bully for ethical and moral reasons, maybe they will if there is the threat that legal trouble could ensue if their child is bullying someone online.

Remember, no law will end cyberbullying. Only the parents of the bullies have the power to put an end to this horrible act…

January 22, 2012
Senate passes bill on cyber bullying
By Marc Kovac, StowSentry.com

Columbus — The Ohio Senate overwhelmingly OK’d legislation Jan. 18 aimed at combating cyber bullying among schoolchildren.

House Bill 116 passed by a vote of 31-1 and heads to the Ohio House for concurrence on Senate amendments.

The legislation was titled the Jessica Logan Act, in memory of a teen from the Cincinnati area who committed suicide in July 2008 after being subjected to in-school and online bullying after a nude photo of her was circulated at her school. Read more ›

Meant to post this story earlier and comment. It is a press release so I posted the full thing below and highlighted key findings. It speaks for itself… the bottom line here is that these are more numbers to toss on the varying statistics fire surrounding cyberbullying. This comes from Ireland… and while this study focuses on cell phone use, it is another illustration at how these numbers will never get lower until parents of the bullies know what their kids are doing online and how they are treating others — which is what our PC Pandora monitoring software exactly does (at least when it comes to the computer)!

press release
Jan. 18, 2012

Openet-Sponsored Study Reveals 41 Percent of Teenagers Experience Cyber-Bullying

Heavy Cell Phone Users More Likely to Engage in Cyber-Bullying; Wireless Carriers Have Role to Play in Mitigating Mobile Harassment

DUBLIN, IRELAND, Jan 18, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Openet, a leading provider of Service Optimization Software (SOS) to tier one communications service providers, today announces the results of a survey conducted on their behalf by Harris Interactive on communications usage among teens in the United States. The survey was conducted online among 503 U.S. 13-17 year old cell phone users. The study found that cyber-bullying via cell phones or online is a major issue among this age group, resulting in emotional impact.

Cyber-bullying is a national problem, and several states have proposed legislation to prevent this type of harassment across all media. In this vein, the objectives of the Openet-sponsored survey are to inform parents of the safety risks associated with teens’ communications usage and to arm parents with useful knowledge and potential solutions to help protect their teens from these risks by:

• Identifying the characteristics of teens who engage in inappropriate or unsafe cell phone usage
• Identifying the characteristics of teens who bully others via cell phone and/or online as well as those who are bullied themselves
• Understanding the state of parental influence in communications usage and examining self-reported assessment measures for each of these key groups

Results of the survey do not just point to children who are the victims of cyber-bullying; instead, they paint a clear picture of both the victims and perpetrators of this behavior. While 41 percent of teens say they have been cyber-bullied on their cell phone or online, one-quarter (25 percent) admit they are cyber-bullies themselves.

The research also finds that heavy cell phone users are more likely to engage in inappropriate activity on their cell phones, including cyber-bullying activities. The average teenager sends approximately 1,800 texts a month, and 23 percent of teens send more than that, putting them in the “heavy cell phone user” category. Close to half (46 percent) of heavy users experience cyber-bullying on their cell phones, a much higher rate compared to just 23 percent of lighter users. Heavy users are also more likely to admit using their cell phones during inappropriate times, like at night when they should be sleeping (94 percent vs. 70 percent of lighter users) or in school during class (74 percent vs. 41 percent).

“As a parent of a teenager who was the target of mobile and online cyber-bullying, I know first-hand how critical it is for both parents and teens to have access to a Parental Controls technology,” said bestselling author and founder of the largest student-led campaign against cyber-bullying, Shawn Edgington. “After adding parental controls to my daughter’s mobile phone, she was instantly empowered to block her text-harassers. I was also able to limit the times in which she could receive texts. Parents need to have control over usage, and teens need the ability to limit who can send them text messages.”

While parental supervision and rules are important for regulating cell phone use among teens, it is critical that wireless carriers offer ways for parents to physically restrict access and usage through governance of the device itself. Teens that experience and participate in cyber-bullying are more likely to get into trouble or feel unhappy than those who do neither, the study reports.

“The proliferation of mobile access cuts both ways for teenagers,” said Michael Manzo, CMO of Openet. “While this age group needs an effective way to communicate with parents and friends, mobile devices can also serve as a gateway to behavior that is damaging for both the victim and the perpetrator. While legislation against cyber-bullying, along with parental supervision, are a good start to preventing this activity, wireless carriers also bear a responsibility to help ensure that parents can monitor and control their children’s mobile phone access and usage.”

For more information on the survey and Openet’s updated Parental Controls solution, please visit: http://www.openet.com/parentalcontrols/

Openet has also written a blog post discussing implications, needed changes and action items for cyber-bullying prevention, which you can read here: http://blog.openet.com/2012/01/18/parental-controls/

About Openet: Openet is a leading provider of Service Optimization Software (SOS) tailored to meet the evolving needs of communications service providers, or CSPs, including wireless, wireline and cable network operators. Openet’s integrated, high-performance software solutions provide real-time policy management, rating, charging and subscriber data management solutions to enable real-time, contextual network resource allocation and monetization decisions based on information about the end user and the service being used. CSPs use Openet’s SOS solutions to enhance quality of service, create a more personalized end user experience, develop new business models and dynamically control network resources. Openet’s SOS solutions are used by more than 80 customers in 28 countries. For more information, please visit www.openet.com

Here are 4 more brilliant examples of ridiculousness on Facebook that leads to disaster. As parents, you should know that PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know what your kids are doing on Facebook.

The Miranda Rights phrase of “what you say can be used against you in a court of law” no longer applies to only when you are arrested. Facebook is a permanent written/verbal record that can be used against you in a court of law. Check out this case…

January 14, 2012
Man’s Facebook posts could be used against him in reckless homicide case
By Jon Seidel, Herald-News

Tomasz Maciaszek thought he’d be sentenced last month for killing a 17-year-old Romeoville High School student when he sped recklessly into her car in May 2008.

He apologized to her family, and he told Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak he has been fighting a battle with depression and insomnia. He said he has been secluded in his room, haunted by her death.

“I do not have anyone to blame but myself,” Maciaszek said, “and at times I find it very difficult to bear.”

Then a Will County prosecutor put the sentencing on hold, asking the judge to take a look at Maciaszek’s Facebook page. He said it “refutes a lot of what (Maciaszek) just said.” Read more ›

Two girls got into a tiff on Facebook. Then one girl drove to the other girl’s house (who was pregnant) and beat her up. FAIL.

January 19, 2012
Arcadia woman accused of kicking pregnant teen
By McClatchy Newspapers

Online tiff turns into real fight

A 21-year-old Arcadia, Wis., woman has been charged in Pepin County Circuit Court with two misdemeanor battery charges, including one to an unborn child, after an altercation over entries on the online social-networking site Facebook.

Alissa A. Coombs is scheduled to make her initial court appearance Feb. 7. Each charge has a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines. Read more ›

A 20-year-old man in new Jersey threatened to slit a 17-year-old girl’s throat on Facebook. Seriously?

January 19, 2012
Facebook threat leads to arrest
From the New Jersey Herald

SPARTA — A 20-year-old Sparta man was arrested Monday and sent to Sussex County Jail after he posted a death threat on a juvenile girl’s Facebook page, township police said.

Angel N. Robles was charged with a third-degree count of making terroristic threats. Bail was set at $7,500 with no 10 percent option.

On Sunday afternoon, the 17-year-old Sparta girl, with her father, provided Sparta Township Police a printout of her Facebook page, which had an entry from Robles stating that he was sending someone to slit the girl’s throat, police said. Read more ›

This is another example of how and why it is so important to think twice before posting. Things said on Facebook are taken seriously. You have the right to say what you want, but if you threaten someone, people will take it seriously and hold you accountable. This guy threatened Ohio’s governor “in jest”… his employer (a state correctional facility) was not amused.

January 19, 2012
Prison guard fired for Facebook post about Ohio governor
By Justin McClelland, Middletown Journal

TURTLECREEK TWP. — A prison guard at Lebanon Correctional Institution was terminated this week after making threats about the governor, but the guard claims such statements were made in jest.

Jessie Hubbard, who lives in Trenton, was fired Tuesday, following an internal investigation into a posting Hubbard made on a social networking site, according to personnel records obtained by this newspaper. Read more ›

The debate of where does a school’s jurisdiction end and complete freedom of speech (even when it is slanderous of students and school administrators) begin rages on. But in a new twist of events, the Supreme Court has decided it does not even want to weigh in on the issue.

The bottom line here is that this issue will only go away if the parents of the bullies know what their kids are doing and care enough to step in and stop it. The courts and law enforcement can only react, but parents can help prevent. PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know what your kids are doing online and how they are treating others…

January 17, 2012
When off-campus, does First Amendment protect students’ online speech?
By Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor

The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to take up three cases presenting a potentially important test of the free speech rights of minors to engage in offensive and controversial speech on the Internet.

One case involved an eighth grade student suspended from school after creating a fake MySpace page lampooning her school principal as a sex addict.

The high court also refused to take up two similar cases involving high school seniors disciplined for offensive MySpace postings.

The cases were being closely watched by First Amendment scholars because they were seen as presenting the high court with an opportunity to clarify conflicting lower court rulings on whether school officials may discipline a student for offensive comments made at home and posted on the Internet about fellow students or school officials.

Experts say it is one of the most troublesome issues facing school administrators today. Read more ›

Cyberbullying is without a doubt a global issue… but unlike so many other societal issues this one hits at the local level to the extreme, penetrating our school districts and classrooms. It is interesting to see how each small community is battling the issue and doing what they can to end the bullying in their area. This report is from Grand Forks North Dakota.

Remember, parents, it’s your job to know. It’s your job to know how your kids are using that Internet connection you are supplying them with. It’s your job to know how your kids are treating others online. If they are a bully, they are obviously not going to tell you – but PC Pandora computer monitoring software will! Don’t assume – KNOW. The only way to keep your kids safe online and help end cyberbullying is by knowing what your kids are doing when they are on the internet.

January 14, 2012
As cyberbullying rises, community and student leaders fight back
By Pamela Knudson, Grand Forks Herald

“I have friends who’ve been cyberbullied. I’ve seen relationships break up and Facebook fights that have gotten huge. It’s bad,” said Jessica Swanson, a senior at Grand Forks’ Red River High School.

“People need to know the effects of cyber-bullying,” she said. “It’s wrong.”

Swanson is part of an effort to curb the practice that includes school district and city officials as well as middle and high school students.

Cyberbullying — the use of technology such as the Internet and texting to harass or humiliate others — has become more common in recent years, as shown by Grand Forks School District and state surveys. Nearly one in five high school students and one in four middle school students say they’ve been victims of cyberbullying. Read more ›

Girls… Boys… people… trust me – Justin Bieber is NOT contacting you!

If every there was a more strange reason to use PC Pandora monitoring software to keep your kids safe, I do not know about it. Reason #umpteen million: making sure your child does not fall victim to Justin Bieber impersonator scam artists.

January 18, 2012
Online predator poses as Bieber
Source: Reuters

An online predator tried to groom a 10-year-old girl by posing as teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber.

The Sydney girl sent a friend request on an internet video-chat program last Monday to a person using a profile that included Bieber’s photograph and personal details.

In subsequent online video conversations, the girl was asked to model revealing clothing. Read more ›

This article from Staten Island takes a look at the legal issues that schools face when it comes to fighting cyberbullies… Something that is sure to be a hot-button issue this decade is how schools can ensure victims of online bullies have a channel to go through to end the bullying. If course, PC Pandora will help parents end cyberbullying at the source: in their own homes! But that relies on parents wanting to end the bullying – even if their own child is the culprit!

January 14, 2012
Bullying in the Internet age has schools over a barrel
By Deborah E. Young, Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — At 2:29 p.m., on school grounds, if a student sends a sexual, threatening or otherwise offensive text or email to a classmate, lets loose with a vicious post on a social networking site or engages in face-to-face bullying, the student will likely face serious disciplinary action.

But if the same messages are transmitted at 3:01, after school lets out, from a patch of sidewalk across the street, the question of how to handle the behavior becomes much more complicated. Read more ›

3 new reasons and 2 more reminders as to why you should be using PC Pandora monitoring software to know who their kids are talking to and who is trying to talk to them…

2 men from Georgia were sentenced for using a computer to solicit a parent and traveling to meet a minor with intention of sex.

January 10, 2012
2 convicted and sentenced on child sexual predator charges in St. Johns County
By Dan Scanlan, The Florida Times-Union

2 convicted and sentenced on child sexual predator charges in St. Johns County

A 30-year-old Waycross, Ga., man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a St. Johns County jury found him guilty last month of use of a computer to solicit a parent and traveling to meet a minor, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Christopher Lee Smith was sentenced Tuesday by Circuit Judge Wendy Berger. He was found not guilty on charges of attempted sexual battery on someone younger than 12 and transmission of harmful material to minors.

Another sentenced Tuesday is Alvin Brian Smith Jr., no relation. Berger sentenced him to nine years in prison on the same two counts. Read more ›

A 33-year-old in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to using a soliciting sex from a minor online.

January 16, 2012
Man pleads guilty to attempted internet enticement of a minor
From the Westmoreland Times

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 33-year-old Moscow man pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Blewitt to using the Internet and a cell phone to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual conduct.

According to federal authorities, John Swenski admitted that he attempted to persuade and entice a minor to meet him in Scranton for illicit sexual purposes. Federal agents arrested Swenski in January 2010 when he arrived at a location for the purpose of meeting with the minor child. Read more ›

Though he wasn’t arrested or charged, a 30-year-old man was contacting students at a Pennsylvania high school and asking for personal details. He is not from PA, but the cops called him and asked why… think this guy is a predator? Watch the video with the story and let me know what you think…

January 13, 2012
Man, 30, Contacts Blackhawk Students Via Facebook; Police Urge Caution
Police said they are asking parents to check their children’s Facebook page’s after a 30-year-old man from out of state…
WPXI-TV

CHIPPEWA, Pa. — Police said they are asking parents to check their children’s Facebook page’s after a 30-year-old man from out of state contacted several young Blackhawk students.

Investigators said students at Highlands Middle School told their teachers that a man they didn’t know friend requested them and asked for their phone numbers and addresses. Read more ›

A 21-year-old Maryland man was sentenced to 33 years in prison for a sextortion case involving 10 girls between the ages of 13 and 16.

January 14, 2012
Md. Man Sentenced To 33 Years For “Sextortion”
From CBS DC

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A Maryland man who pleaded guilty to charges he extorted an Indiana teen and girls across the country into sexual favors online has been sentenced to 33 years in federal prison.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Indianapolis says 21-year-old Trevor J. Shea of Mechanicsburg, Md., pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to seven counts of production of child pornography. Read more ›

New infographic released by market research firm Lab42 shows that parents are keeping a watchful eye on their child via Facebook. Check out the blurb below and definitely click through to see the infographic – pretty cool.

By the way, as great as it is the parents are monitoring their kids by watching their activity on Facebook, it may not be enough. PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know about those secret accounts and everything else they do online!

January 14, 2012
Most Parents Monitor Kids on Facebook — And Have Their Passwords
By Samantha Murphy

If you think parents are keeping tabs on their kids’ Facebook profile pages and pictures, you’re absolutely right.

According to a new infographic released by market research firm Lab42, parents are keeping a watchful eye on their child via Facebook, with many checking out their pages daily (43%).

The study — which was conducted among 500 social media users – found that 92% of parents are Facebook friends with their children (of all ages) and more are turning to the site to monitor their kids’ interactions. Safety was named as the top reason for looking at their profiles (40%), followed by curiosity (15%). Read more ›

You can be absolutely certain I am watching this one closely. The fact that a student can libel and slander a teacher or school administrator online for all the world to see and then claim freedom of speech is entirely ridiculous. Not to mention disgusting, immoral and just plain old sad. Imagine, and in some cases witness, what happens when an adult slanders their students…

But it all comes down to an “are we teaching our kid to respect others anymore” issue. Sadly, most parents are not. But for those that care, PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know if your child is ascent glike a jerk online and bullying others – including adults!

January 14, 2012
Supreme Court to consider educators’ response to cyber-bullying
By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington— A middle school principal in northeastern Pennsylvania was shocked to see his photo online along with a description of him as a “hairy sex addict” and a “pervert” who liked “hitting on students” in his office.

A high school principal north of Pittsburgh saw a MySpace profile of himself that called him a “big fag,” a “whore” and a drug user. And in West Virginia, a school principal found out that a girl had created an online site to maliciously mock another girl as a “slut” with herpes.

All three students were suspended from school and filed suits against the principal and the school districts. They argued the 1st Amendment protected them from being punished for postings from their home computers. And in the two Pennsylvania cases, they won. Read more ›

Here are a few more ways Facebook can bring about an epic FAIL… Four deaths and a man trying to sell his son?? Are you kidding me folks?

More reasons to use PC Pandora monitoring software to know what your kids are doing on Facebook…

One Facebook comment lead to a shooting of a 20-year-old… tragedies like this do NOT need to happen.

January 7, 2012
Facebook post sparked New Bedford fight that ended in deadly shooting
By Brian Fraga, South Coast Today

NEW BEDFORD — A derogatory comment on Facebook sparked a chain of events that ended in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Michael Pina on a South End street corner last month, prosecutors said.

Authorities did not say who posted the comment — it was subsequently deleted online — or exactly what it said, but it prompted two women, current and ex-girlfriends of Pina’s friend Jason Denison, to make plans to fight each other.

“It was a simple ‘he said, she said,’” Assistant District Attorney Dan Hourihan said after Friday’s arraignment of Jonathan Flores, 20, of New Bedford, who along with Denison, 20, is charged with murder. Read more ›

More Facebook comments lead to three deaths… although, it must be mentioned, the three who were killed were killed by the father of the people they were going to beat up over a Facebook spat. The father was “defending” his step-sons… Still, there was no reason for this to happen over some stupid comments on a social networking site.

January 12, 2012
Facebook feud leaves three dead
Tim Furlong, WWLP

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (WCAU) – Three Philadelphia teens are dead and another was injured after a 30-year-old stepfather opened fire on a car full of kids who allegedly came over to confront his three stepsons Tuesday night.

On Wednesday night police caught Axel Barreto, the man accused of shooting the teens.

Police say that around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, seven teens got in a car and drove to a house in the Juniata section of Philadelphia.

There, Barreto was waiting with a semi-automatic pistol in his driveway. Read more ›

The title says it all here. My only question is what random little boy is worth $20 million to anyone other than his parents?

January 10, 2012
‘Who’ll give me $20million for my son?’ Saudi man tries to sell his boy on Facebook after court shuts down his illegal business
Only condition is to know which city buyer lives in; Claims it’s last option to provide for wife and daughter
By Daily Mail Reporter (UK)

A Saudi man is trying to sell his son on Facebook for around $20million to avoid ‘living in poverty’ after his illegal business was shut down, it was reported today.

Saud bin Nasser Al Shahry claims trafficking his son is the only option to continue providing for his wife and daughter.

He says he is willing to go to court to complete the sale, the only condition of which is to know which city the buyer lives in. Read more ›

Again, the story speaks for itself. Good news if you live in Nebraska… FYI: PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know if you have a bully in the house…

January 11, 2012
Nebraska measure targets online harassment
From KCAU-TV

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Harassment through Facebook, instant messaging and other online services would be outlawed under a new bill in the Nebraska Legislature.

The measure introduced Wednesday by Plattsmouth Sen. Paul Lambert and Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill would expand an existing telephone harassment law to include online communications. Read more ›

A pair of bills that target cyberbullying are moving through Maine’s state legislature, but getting pushback from Republicans who have been lobbied by the Christian Civic League of Maine, saying the bill was the product of the “gay agenda” and could infringe on students’ free speech rights. In other words, this Christian organization and the GOP members it has seduced are taking a stand FOR bullying the state’s LGBT youth.

For parents who really want to end cyberbullying, PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know if you have a bully in the house…

January 9, 2012
Advocates hope lawmakers consider victims while weighing bullying bills
By Steve Mistler, Sun Journal

AUGUSTA — As the Legislature’s Education Committee took another crack at a pair of anti-bullying bills that could increase civil penalties and create new mandates for school districts, one of the proposal’s sponsors on Monday urged lawmakers not to assign labels to victims.

“The scope of bullying is wide and long,” Rep. Terry Morrison, D-South Portland, said. “It’s not just narrowed to the (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.”

Lawmakers may have more technical considerations as they weigh the two proposals. However, Morrison’s comments provide some background about the politics that played into the bill getting carried over from last year. Read more ›

The story speaks for itself. Good news if you live in Ohio…

January 10, 2012
Bill to Beef Up Ohio School Cyber-Bullying Policy Advances
By Molly Bloom,

A bill that would strengthen state laws about how school districts address bullying is closer to becoming a law.

HB 116 would require each school district and charter school to teach students about its anti-bullying policy and to inform parents about that policy. Currently schools basically just need to have an anti-bullying policy.

The bill passed out of the Senate Education Committee today. It passed in the House last year. State Rep. John Barnes, D-Cleveland, is the bill’s sponsor. Read more ›

For parents who really want to end cyberbullying, PC Pandora monitoring software will let you know if you have a bully in the house…

This is why, parents, you need to be using PC Pandora monitoring software to know who your kids are talking to. As much as Internet predators are real – another truth is the fact that kids are willing to meet the people they form relationships with online in real life. It’s not a scare tactic; it is reality. There is no excuse for not knowing who your kids are talking to online.

January 9, 2012
Missing Teen May Be With Much Older Man She Met Online
By Paige Austin, Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch

Police and the family of a missing teenage girl are asking for the public’s help in finding her and bringing her home safely.

Police believe 17-year-old Christine Jelinek may be in the company of a 45- to 50-year-old white man she met online. The man is believed to be 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds. Jelinek, who also goes by the name Kira Hawkins, is the daughter of Chief Travis Mack, stationed at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. She was reported missing Jan. 4 and was last seen in the area of Rancho Santa Fe Road and Melrose Drive in Carlsbad. Read more ›

Here are 2 new reasons and 3 older reminders as to why it is so important to use PC Pandora monitoring software to know who you kids are talking to online and who is trying to talk to them!

Let’s get to it!

A 43-year-old from Virginia got sentenced to 95 years in jail for pretending to be a 19-year-old college girl online and soliciting nude pictures from teenage boys…

January 4, 2012
Louisa man sentenced to 95 years in Facebook porn case
WTVR-TV

Louisa, Va (WTVR) Today James Dollins, of Gordonsville, was convicted on 10 counts of solicitation to produce child pornography and 5 counts of reproduction of child pornography.

Dollins, 43, was sentenced to 95 years in prison with an active 30-year incarceration, which prosecutors said in a release, “is tantamount to a life sentence.” Read more ›

A 36-year-old man in Minnesota, who was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison for soliciting sex from teenage girls online, lost his appeal…

January 4, 2012
Man who used site to solicit girl loses appeal
By Dave Kolpack, Associated Press

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by a Minnesota man who admitted he set up a Facebook account under a false identity to lure young girls and used the site to contact a 13-year-old for sex.

Darrin Anderson, 36, of Middle River, Minn., was sentenced in May to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to a charge of travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Defense attorneys claimed in their appeal that the sentence was unreasonable. Read more ›

A 32-year-old man in New York was arrested for trying to meet a 13-year-old girl he met on Facebook for sex. He initially contacted a real girl, but the girl’s father alerted police who took over the account and carried out a sting operation on the perp…

January 6, 2011
Police: Man arrested after attempt to meet 13-year-old girl
By Kristin Lowman, FOX 23

32-year-old Ari Snyder of Ballston Lake has been arrested after Colonie Police say he used Facebook to attempt to meet a teenage girl.

Police say they were tipped off by the potential victim’s father.

32-year-old Ari Snyder has been on Colonie Police’s radar since 2010.

That is when they say a father contacted them, after he found Facebook messages from Snyder to his 13-year-old daughter. Read more ›

A 27-year-old man in Louisiana who was arrested in 2010 for a sexual relationship he had with a 14-year-old girl he met on Myspace in 2009, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The girl was 100% complicit.

January 9, 2012
Louisiana man sentenced to prison for sex with 14-year-old Wythe County girl
By Laurence Hammack, The Roanoke Times

A Louisiana man was sentenced to federal prison today for a sexual relationship he had with a 14-year-old Wythe County girl he met on a social networking website.

Kevin Lunsford, 27, of Shreveport, received a 10-year sentence from Judge James Jones in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Read more ›

Finally, a 21-year-old California man arrested last year for raping teenage girls he met on Facebook pleaded no context. You have to read this story – this is why you need to be afraid of who is online. He raped one girl he met on Facebook, was arrested, bailed out… and then out on bail he raped another girl he met on Facebook.

January 9, 2012
Hollister Facebook Rapist Pleads No Contest
KSBW-TV

HOLLISTER, Calif. — A 21-year-old Hollister man who raped teenage girls he met through Facebook and My Yearbook pleaded no contest on Monday.

Mathew Jacobs cried in San Benito County court as he entered no contest pleas for first-degree forcible rape and statutory rape. Read more ›