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Is your child safe online?

Louisa Compton | 13:29 PM, Tuesday, 3 March 2009

"Suddenly we were part of a world we never ever thought we'd have to confront." That was the stark reality for one family as they were getting ready for Christmas last year.

After checking her 12-year-old daughter's texts on Christmas Eve, the girl's mother said she found explicit messages that brutally burst the happy family holiday bubble. Inspite of all the parents' efforts to keep their children safe online, somehow it had all gone wrong. Their daughter had secretly set up a socal networking account and was being groomed by a paedophile.

Victoria spoke exclusively to that mother about what happened and how the family coped. You can listen to the interview below (it has been voiced by an actor to protect her identity).
















Victoria also talked to a young man who was groomed in a separate case. He'd started chatting online to someone he'd been introduced to by a family friend. He thought he was talking to a woman who lived in Australia and says, as a 15 year old, he was flattered she was interested in him. You can listen to his interview below.















He spent months chatting to "her" online even though he kind of knew it was all a bit "iffy". The final straw came, he says, when "she" started to pester him to use a webcam - at that point he ended the online relationship.

Later he discovered "she" was a he who'd been grooming him. He didn't tell his parents because the man involved was still known to the family.

He said he thought he knew about the dangers involved online. But he still got caught up in it all and was left feeling angry and guilty when the case came to court.

Both these young people knew what they were doing was wrong. But they carried on despite all the safety messages. So is it part of being a teenager to rebel and do something like this? Or, are we not being told enough about how to be safe online?

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