Katherine R. Lester, 16, Runaway to Israel to meet MySpace.com man
This MySpace.com story may top them all. Katherine R. Lester is a straight-A honor
student, left home and flew to the Middle East to meet a man she met on-line. She originally lied to her parents to obtain a passport in order to meet a 25-year-old from Jericho.
Katherine disappeared Monday after talking her family into getting her a passport by saying she was going to Canada with friends, sheriff’s officials said. She apparently planned to visit a man whose MySpace account describes him as a 25-year-old from Jericho, Undersheriff James Jashinske said.
The FBI traced the teenager to a Wednesday flight from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Tel Aviv, Israel. At a scheduled stop in Amman, Jordan, U.S. officials persuaded her to return home, FBI agent Robert Beeckman said. (AP via Yahoo News)
Shawn Lester told The Saginaw News that her daughter has “never given me a day’s trouble. … I guess that statement can no longer be said.
PARENTS … CHECK WHAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE DOING ON-LINE. ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE A MYSPACE ACCOUNT. Luckily, Katherine R. Lester, was persuaded in Jordan to return home to the United States and not go on further to meet this man in the West Back.
DETROIT — A 16-year-old top student from Michigan tricked her
parents into getting her a passport and then flew off to the Mideast to be with a West Bank man she met on MySpace.com, authorities say.
U.S. officials in Jordan persuaded her to turn around and go home before she reached the West Bank. She was on her way home Friday. (Fox News)
Katherine Lester had obviously planned this meeting well in advance to have first obtained a passport necessary for the plane flight to the Middle East. It appears her plan went as follows:
Jashinske said while the girl’s parents were working, she left home with her passport and enough clothing for two weeks.
“She was supposedly picked up by a yellow cab according to her brother,” Jashinske said. “Her mother called Katherine’s cell phone for the next two days, but Katherine did not return her calls.”
According to authorities, she got on a plane to visit a man she met three months ago. His MySpace account says he is a 25-year-old from Jericho, Tuscola County Undersheriff James Jashinske said in a press release. (Huron Daily)
The number of these cases is becoming alarmingly to common. MySpace.com has been the usual suspect far too often as well. Teenagers and parents have got to understand the dangers of the internet. Socializing network sites are playgrounds for sexual predators. The fact that the internet deals with the “world wide web” only increases the exposure of teenagers to those that would exploit them.
Lester met the man on MySpace.com, a social networking hub owned by News Corp. with more 72 million members that lets users post photos, Web logs and journals. Its features and popularity with teenagers have raised concerns with authorities in the United States. There have been scattered accounts of sexual predators targeting minors they met through the site.
“This is almost a stereotypical example of how kids become compliant victims. Internet predators don’t abduct their victims; they persuade them. And as is apparently the case in this story, it’s not uncommon for the child to know that she’s dealing with an adult,” said CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid.
“Aside from the distance involved, this is a pretty typical case. The most vulnerable kids are teenage girls who willingly get together with adult men they meet on the Internet,” Magid added (CBS News)
Michigan teen heads home from Jordan
Glad she is safe. Expensive lesson to learn..but if it helps her be much more careful in the future..it’s well worth it.
Comment by Maggie | June 9, 2006
My grandauther who is 11 received a pic of a man “s genitals in her email. It came from hi5 another way that preditors reach children. I reported it to Flint Police with no response … I also reported it to exploited and missing children with no response. Who do I actually need to report it too. Is it child abuse and neglect when parents allow there children to contact these kind of sites ? Now I hear that my 11 year old grandauther has a site on my space .com with a sexually oriented pic of her and a friend touching each others tounges together.Somebody needs to do something!Please help save out children…
Comment by Liz Huston | June 11, 2006
Gang at SM:
You folks are doing a wonderful service to not only the USA, but also the world. I thank you for your continued coverage on the Natalee Holloway case; however, when much needed exposure is given to other pressing issues I know I can come here to find good and accurate coverage. Cheers mates!
Sir Paul
Comment by Sir Paul | June 12, 2006
this whole story seems a bit one-sided…has anyone thought to inquire after the thoughts of this supposedly smart, on-top-of-things girl? there obviously was something profound going through her mind when she commited to decieving her parents and running away to assimalate herself into a COMPLETELY different culture and environment for good! without knowing the motives or what really took place, i must admit that i am a tad bit proud of her for embracing other cultures, especially one that has so much bad rep here in the US (even though she may have “opened up” a little too much too soon). And also, look how far she got! WOW!! she made it half way around the world before being intercepted! this is a girl who could GO places…if the rest of the world’s narrow minds don’t prevent her.
_________
SM: Get a clue. People would be better off with a narrow mind as you state than possible having none at all as might be in your case.
Gee, why would she need to be deceitful? Through the grace of God she is lucky she is not just another statistic. No one in their right mind (key word: right mind) thinks that this was wise or a good idea.
Maybe you show wonder off to the Middle East if you think it such a great idea? Who is stopping you?
Comment by WHat iF? | June 15, 2006
She is cute! She should have no trouble finding a nice American boy.
Comment by Pete Deignan | June 19, 2006
What if? That is one of the dumbest things i’ve read in months. It’s a no brainer that the girl is too young to even know what she was doing. Your statement is an example of how some people will seek to be politically correct even at the expense of being stupid.
Comment by Ryan | June 20, 2006
As parents we do need to monitor our children’s use of MySpace. But let’s not demonize MySpace – her parents are at fault for whatever mistakes were made. And, as time passes, it does not appear to be a case of exploitation, but young love. Give MySpace, the 20 year old guy, and muslims a break.
________
SM: We will not give anyone a break. That IMO would be grossly stupid. We will demonize MySpace all we want. It is an irresponsible site that is a breeding ground for exploitation. The barriers Myspace puts up are a joke. They take no responsibility in what they do the the exposure they put people in.
The parents are not just to blame. This girl should be grounded until she is 18. Anyone who is so stupid, foolish and imature to do such a thing can just thank God she is not dead. SHE IS LUCKY.
First of all, she is how old? He is 20.
Second, she is lucky she did not get killed just by going to an area that she knew nothing about.
She is a perfect example of why 16 year old are not allowed to do what 18 year olds do. You cant just brush this off like Sally snuck out of the house to go on a date with Bobby.
This kids on Myspace better get a damn clue as to the trouble they can get into, life is not innocent and it is unforgiving. She had no idea what she was getting herself into.
Just because nothing happened to her, does not make this “young love”. She is truly lucky she can still talk about her story today.
Comment by Will | June 23, 2006
I totally agree with Will, and now she is going on talk shows and staying at 5 star hotels and living like a star. Come on. This girl should be punished severly, and I also think she should have to pay back all the money that us taxpayers paid for authorities to go and find her.I think the whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. I feel so much for her mother,first to have to deal with this publicly, lose custody of her, and now watch the girls father exploid it even more. What is wrong with him anyways? He says he sees how much in love they are? You would think as a parent he would be smarter than that. She’s 16!! I guess thats the problem with kids this day in age>
Comment by stephanie | June 24, 2006
Women considering giving up their rights in America should read the attached about the rights that women have in other countries. This one is about a woman at the West Bank.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/04/26/ftburn26.xml&pos=portal_puff3&_requestid=25966
Comment by Vince Baiocco | June 30, 2006
this girl was 16!!!!!
straights A’s!!!
how could she be that much of an idiot to go meet someone tht she met online like that, after all this stuff on the news / other media about this type of thing happening!!!
16 for god sakes, she actually must be an idiot!!!
_________
SM: Being 16 does not make one smart or experienced. In this day and age it makes one a prime candidate to do something without thnking of the consequences.
R
Comment by james | September 5, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2110545
Above is the real story. Its a television interview. The summary at the top of this page includes some false information.
Comment by Agitator | November 26, 2006