Sexual predator approaches Pocatello 8-year-old via app
An 8-year-old in Pocatello learned to be more careful with apps on her smartphone. Hailey Green chatted with a stranger through the Tango app, who asked to meet with her.
Like the other apps on her phone, Green downloaded Tango for fun.
“My friend had it, and she told me about it,” she said. “She wanted me to get it so I could play with her.”
Over the weekend, the fun came to a halt. For about an hour on Sunday, she chatted with a man that looked like he was in his 30s. The man asked to FaceTime and meet with him in real life.
Hailey’s sister alerted her parents about the man. Stephen Green, Hailey’s dad, said the man told his daughter, “You’re so beautiful.”
“You buy a phone for your kid so that they can stay in contact, and you can keep them safe,” Stephen Green said.
The Greens immediately went to the police and showed them the messages and learned apps like Tango is often used by sexual predators. After they left, Stephen Green and his wife, Stephanie Green, deleted the app on their daughters’ phones and tablets.
They didn’t stop there.
“We went through all the other apps on their phones just to make sure that they had no other apps that could get them in trouble,” said Stephanie Green. “Just left the games on there that we knew were safe games.”
This kind of proactive approach is what the Pocatello Police Department recommends for parents, since they are the first line of defense against these cyberthreats.
Community services specialist Dianne Brush often teaches about cybersafety in schools.
“Parents should routinely check to see what type of information your children are revealing over the internet, over a cellphone, what pictures they’re posting,” said Brush. “It’s up to the parents to really monitor that.”
Overall, the Greens sum up the experience as a wakeup call.
“We’re in Idaho. We don’t associate ourselves with a lot of this crime and I think it can come back to bite us,” said Stephen Green.
Brush advises to always check app and phone’s privacy settings and location services. She also recommends parents to establish rules with their children, letting them know there is help in these situations.
Here are two websites filled with information about cybersafety:
