I’m raising a middle schooler who spends too much time on Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, so I’m already on guard about the dangers that social media present to adolescents.
But the internet-driven mayhem unleashed on a family in Riverside the day after Thanksgiving has shaken me and every parent I know.
What authorities have said so far is that a 15-year-old girl was “catfished” online, hooked by a man posing as a 17-year-old boy. The man, 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards, showed up at her home, and apparently killed her mother and grandparents, set the home on fire, then fled with the girl.
Opinion Columnist
Robin Abcarian
Hours later and miles away, Edwards, a Virginia law enforcement officer, killed himself.
Police said the girl was unhurt, at least physically. Can you imagine, though, her emotional wounds?
We don’t have many more the details about the incident, only the tragic outlines and an emerging understanding that Edwards had a troubling past. What we do know is enough to make me want to confiscate my 12-year-old niece’s iPad and lock her in a tower until she is 25.
Instead, what I have done is read news stories to her about the Riverside case, emphasizing that anyone can fall victim to this kind of deceit.
On Monday after school, I sat her in front of my computer, called up the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website and played some short videos about catfishing and “sextortion.” The videos graphically illustrate how an adolescent boy or girl can be tricked into sending inappropriate photos, then be blackmailed for money or more explicit images by a person pretending to be someone other than who they are. If the youngsters fail to comply, the catfisher threatens to release their images publicly. The perpetrators make contact by posting fake profiles, sending friend requests and claiming to have friends in common with the victims. It is very easy to see how kids could be duped.
“For the first time…