Stu
21 Jan 08, 06:04 PM
Hi,
Could I ask members here not to make posts concerning Social Networking sites like Facebook, bebo etc.
I don't really want the DIBB associated with these sites. As far as I'm concerned these sites are for adults only, it's all too easy to give too much information about yourself on these sites, ok if you are aware of what you are doing and you are an adult but not if you are a child.
There have been cases of children being groomed for all sorts of illegal and sickening activities on these sites. Children often give away very personal details without realising it, which allows someone to easily track them down. I do not believe a family site such as the DIBB should associate itself with these sites.
It actually appalls me that someone has actually made a DIBB Group :(
Any topic concerning these sites will be removed without warning.
From October 2007 - Just one of many.....
Sexual predator used Bebo site to lure girls
CRAIG DAVIDSON
A MAN who used a popular social networking website to groom two 14-year-old schoolgirls for sex was jailed for nine months yesterday.
Andrew Beatson, 26, used Bebo to befriend his first young victim after viewing her personal profile on the site.
The pair exchanged messages over a four-month period before he coaxed the teenager to his Edinburgh flat and had sex with her.
Her worried parents had reported her missing after she stormed out of the house during a family argument and stayed out all night. After discovering she had been with Beatson, they alerted the police and he was charged.
Four months later, while on bail, Beatson, who is unemployed, used the site to initiate a sexual relationship with another 14-year-old. He was remanded in custody after being caught for a second time.
The offences took place in November 2006 and March 2007 at Beatson's flat in Haileslands Gardens in Edinburgh.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to nine months in prison at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting both counts of unlawful sex. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years.
His solicitor, Angus McLennan, told the court his client had sought counselling for his problems, including an addiction to the internet. He said Beatson had not been aware of his victims' true ages and had merely been naïve.
He said: "He did not seek out children. There was some degree of naïvety as the girls described themselves as being over 16 and he did not think further inquiries needed to be made. There is nothing more sinister than that."
But the sheriff, Noel McPartlin, rejected Beatson's claims and branded him a "predator".
He said: "The fact is that both girls were not much older than 14 when these offences took place. You initiated contact through the internet, so it is very difficult to come to any other conclusion that your conduct is predatory by its very nature."
Last night, the case sparked fresh warnings from safety groups for parents to monitor their children's use of popular networking websites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, the government's law-enforcment agency devoted to online safeguards for children, pointed out that many young people cannot be trusted to act responsibly on the internet without supervision.
A spokesman said: "The internet and these sites are an integral part of children's lives these days, but unfortunately, where children go, child sex offenders will follow. Unfortunately, the biggest danger to children on the internet comes from the information they put up about themselves."
EDIT - Sorry I should have locked this as I didn't really want a discussion on this as it defeats the point of this post, so I have removed the discussion posts.
Could I ask members here not to make posts concerning Social Networking sites like Facebook, bebo etc.
I don't really want the DIBB associated with these sites. As far as I'm concerned these sites are for adults only, it's all too easy to give too much information about yourself on these sites, ok if you are aware of what you are doing and you are an adult but not if you are a child.
There have been cases of children being groomed for all sorts of illegal and sickening activities on these sites. Children often give away very personal details without realising it, which allows someone to easily track them down. I do not believe a family site such as the DIBB should associate itself with these sites.
It actually appalls me that someone has actually made a DIBB Group :(
Any topic concerning these sites will be removed without warning.
From October 2007 - Just one of many.....
Sexual predator used Bebo site to lure girls
CRAIG DAVIDSON
A MAN who used a popular social networking website to groom two 14-year-old schoolgirls for sex was jailed for nine months yesterday.
Andrew Beatson, 26, used Bebo to befriend his first young victim after viewing her personal profile on the site.
The pair exchanged messages over a four-month period before he coaxed the teenager to his Edinburgh flat and had sex with her.
Her worried parents had reported her missing after she stormed out of the house during a family argument and stayed out all night. After discovering she had been with Beatson, they alerted the police and he was charged.
Four months later, while on bail, Beatson, who is unemployed, used the site to initiate a sexual relationship with another 14-year-old. He was remanded in custody after being caught for a second time.
The offences took place in November 2006 and March 2007 at Beatson's flat in Haileslands Gardens in Edinburgh.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to nine months in prison at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting both counts of unlawful sex. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years.
His solicitor, Angus McLennan, told the court his client had sought counselling for his problems, including an addiction to the internet. He said Beatson had not been aware of his victims' true ages and had merely been naïve.
He said: "He did not seek out children. There was some degree of naïvety as the girls described themselves as being over 16 and he did not think further inquiries needed to be made. There is nothing more sinister than that."
But the sheriff, Noel McPartlin, rejected Beatson's claims and branded him a "predator".
He said: "The fact is that both girls were not much older than 14 when these offences took place. You initiated contact through the internet, so it is very difficult to come to any other conclusion that your conduct is predatory by its very nature."
Last night, the case sparked fresh warnings from safety groups for parents to monitor their children's use of popular networking websites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, the government's law-enforcment agency devoted to online safeguards for children, pointed out that many young people cannot be trusted to act responsibly on the internet without supervision.
A spokesman said: "The internet and these sites are an integral part of children's lives these days, but unfortunately, where children go, child sex offenders will follow. Unfortunately, the biggest danger to children on the internet comes from the information they put up about themselves."
EDIT - Sorry I should have locked this as I didn't really want a discussion on this as it defeats the point of this post, so I have removed the discussion posts.