What can you do legally if a 20-year-old man in a different state is chatting with your 16-year-old daughter on the internet and phone and you caught her sending suggestive pictures via camera phone?

Answer 1

Legally you can't really do anything unless you can prove he's trying to solicit her for sex, but it sounds like they were chatting. She willingly sent photos to him over the web, so she's not really being coerced.

What you can do is actively protect and monitor your daughter. Don't allow computers in bedrooms, monitor her online activity and install a filter on the computer so that certain websites will be blocked.

You bet you can do something about it!She is a minor and he's not! He is breaking the law and there is a high possibility he's into porn. These types of leeches in society prey on young women/men. Get the police involved. In Canada this is against the law and the police have a group that does nothing but track these letches! Don't sit there and take it, and get the police in on it. When your daughter isn't home print out all messages or burn them on CD and that means the pictures as well! If you don't know how to do this then get someone in the family that you can trust. You need to stop this guy now! The police often can track on just the MO alone. They want these guys! This type of thing is no different than a pimp out on any city street trying to get young people to "join the family" mean their group.

In the US local police departments do not have jurisdiction over the internet nor the use of such.

The matter should be brought to the attention of the United States Customs Enforcement Divison,

USCE Hotline for reporting sexual predators, 1-800-232-5378, 24/7.

AnswerI am from Canada and I put the post "You bet you can do something about it." We don't know who is Canadian, American from the U.K., etc., so I gave what the law here is in Canada. I did watch a program that indeed the police officers in larger cities are now trying to crack-down on kiddy porn, seducing kids on the Internet and more teams are being used to try to catch these criminals. It's big business and many parents aren't aware it's going on.

Thanks for the additional info re the U.S. laws.

ANOTHER ANSWERBe a responsible parent and SUPERVISE your child's computer use. If this is somehow not possible, there are plenty of programs to limit where a child "goes" on a computer ie...chatrooms, porn sites, adult sites etc... If all else fails, lock up the darn computer! Believe it or not, children CAN live without being pluncked down in front of a monitor. There are perverts eveywhere, so some rules and guidelines might be in order for your DAUGHTER. In the UKI didn't answer this question originally as it was clearly from North America. However in the UK 16 is the age of consent and neither would be breaking the law. 2 years on, or 4 years on would you think it so odd they were chatting, if that is all it is?