Teen who texted parents she's been kidnapped is busted for lying

Sometimes lying to your parents lands you in a timeout. You might even get grounded.

Other times, it can get you in trouble with the cops.

That was the case when a 16-year-old San Jose girl texted her parents about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday that she had been kidnapped and was at some unknown, mysterious location, according to police.

Her parents called police. They had last seen her an hour before riding away on her bicycle. Officers swooped in and scoured the Cambrian neighborhood and some of the girl's favorite hangouts.

One neighbor who asked to remain anonymous because he knows the "nice" family said he saw patrol cars and specialized police SUV units on the street for "three or four hours."

The girl was found at 7:59 p.m., according to department spokesman Officer Jose Garcia, when an officer spotted her riding her bicycle two blocks from home. She later "admitted to fabricating the story to avoid being disciplined" by her parents after she had stayed out with her friends, according to a police report.

"This used up a lot of our resources," Garcia said. "We never take these things lightly."

Garcia said seven patrol cars and officers and 13 police officers — many of them detectives — were involved in the search for the girl, including checking stores she likes and movie theaters. Morgan Hill police and Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies and volunteer search and rescue teams also were mobilized. When the girl was found, the sheriff's office was preparing to launch a helicopter.

Unfortunately, Garcia said children lie too often to their parents to avoid getting punished, and too often, police are called in to help in these type of nonemergency situations "more than we would like."

"First of all, it's a crime. It's also crying wolf, and it mobilizes so many people," Garcia said.

Peter Bellmio, senior policy adviser for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, doesn't track how often people call in with false kidnaps, but he said it is an "age old" problem that happens too often.

Texting a false kidnap, he said, is just the same as calling in a false kidnap over the phone or written message, even though it's a modern medium.

"It really makes it difficult for police who have the difficult job of telling when it's a real abduction," Bellmio said.

When the teen finally returned home, she was cited for making a false report and released to her parents, who couldn't be immediately located to find out what her at-home punishment will be.

How Facebook has changed our idea of 'too much information'

The other day on the Internet, one man's Facebook circle received a public service announcement of sorts: This goes out to any girl that ive ever been with. I got tested today for Herpes and i came out positive.

Privacy just isn't what it used to be.

With Facebook at the forefront, social networking companies with business models hungry for personal data and a youthful generation raised on the Internet seem to be pulling the 21st century toward a more "transparent" culture, in the approving words of Mark Zuckerberg, the social networking giant's 26-year-old founder. Facebook's stated mission: "Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." In other words, letting more people know more about each other.

This comes as long-standing social mores and sensibilities are being shaken by the convergence of Silicon Valley technologies. Besides Facebook, which is based in Palo Alto, sites such as Twitter and YouTube are encouraging hundreds of millions of people to share information and images. Gadgets developed here, from the PC to the iPad, have made it simple for users to create, communicate and access that vast amount of digital data. And Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others have made it easier to find all of that information.

"Facebook has indeed changed the nature of privacy on the Internet, in that it actually encourages people to make maximum disclosure of their personal information without regard for the possible consequences," said Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of Privacy Journal, a publication that since 1974 has tracked the impact of technology and law on privacy. "Facebook involves lots of young persons who either are not old enough to give meaningful consent or have not had enough life experience to know the consequences."

Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Manufacturing Child Pornography

John Nelson Preston, Jr., 34, from Yale, Michigan, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for manufacturing child pornography, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today. Joining in the announcement was FBI Special Agent-In-Charge Andrew G. Arena.

In February 2009, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department received a “cybertip” from America Online that an individual utilizing the screen name “mjfrog” was transmitting child pornography. Authorities identified “mjfrog” as co-defendant David Bryan Blackman, 52, and searched his home, seizing a computer and a voice modulator. On the computer, authorities found chat transcripts between Blackman and Preston. In the transcripts, Blackman posed as a mother with two pre-pubescent daughters. Blackman agreed to allow Preston to engage in sex acts with his daughters if Preston would transmit nude images of himself and a 3-year-old in his care to Blackman via webcam. Preston did so. Although no images of the nude 3-year-old were recovered, federal charges were brought based on the substance of the chat transcripts as well as other child pornography found on both defendants’ computers.

Preston pleaded guilty before Judge David M. Lawson on March 8, 2010. In addition to 15 years’ imprisonment, Preston will serve five years of supervised release following his term.

Blackman pleaded guilty on February 11, 2010. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release on June 2.

Facebook puts faith in its software
smarts to see off sexual predators

Facebook has developed sophisticated algorithms to monitor its users and detect inappropriate and predatory behaviour, bolstering its latest raft of initiatives to improve the safety of its users.

Having launched an education campaign, an improved reporting procedure and a 24/7 police hotline on Monday, Facebook told the Guardian that it has introduced a number of algorithms that track the behaviour of its users and flag up suspicious activity, including members with a significant number of declined friend requests and those with a high proportion of contacts of one gender.

Why Pay For Health Insurance When You Can Steal It?

These days, most people know the drill for dealing with a stolen credit card number — call the card company and have the account canceled.

But experts say a different type of identity theft is on the rise — one that could compromise both the victim's credit and physical safety. Patients using someone else's name, Social Security number or insurance card to get health care could risk their victim's health if inaccurate information, such as blood type and medications, is recorded on the victim's chart.