Thirteen-year-old Shelby Lynn Balahoski found save in Odessa, TX
Thirteen-year-old Shelby Lynn Balahoski had been missing for a week, until she called her father in Michigan on Sunday to tell him she was in Odessa. Shelby’s father called the police as she was reported as an endangered missing person and presumed to be in the company of 47-year-old convicted sex offender Kevin Ray Slagle of Eustis. Shelby was picked up by police.
Thirteen-year-old Shelby Lynn Balahoski had been gone from home for a week, and Bartow police had said Saturday they suspected she was in the company of 47-year-old convicted sex offender Kevin Ray Slagle of Eustis.
But Sunday evening, as Shelby’s mother, Amy Balahoski, blinked back tears and turned to face television news cameras, her boyfriend rushed up to her and told her that Shelby had been found safe.
Kevin Ray Slagle had also been arrested by police and has a history of sexual assaults against children.
The teen talked to Bartow police briefly and told them she spent Monday and Tuesday with Slagle, and at some point he threatened her and made her fear for her safety, so she ran away, Warren said.
The tangled story began several months ago when Balahoski met Slagle through a mobile phone chat messaging service, according to Bartow police. Since then, unknown to her mother, she met with Slagle several times, police said.
Slagle served 12 1/2 years in prison for the attempted sexual battery of a child younger than 12, and was released in 2002, prison records show.
When will these teens learn about these chat sites? When will we learn that these sexual predators will just repeat their actions?
The parents need to be more involve with the teens net surfing. Set up fire walls, check emails. Place the pc in a room used by the family. Make sure they don’t use their names, or post photos.
Teens just don’t understand the net is not private, and can be very dangerous.
Comment by AJMAC57 | January 5, 2006