ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A mother called Channel 9 following a report on smartphone apps and sexual predators to say she had discovered that her young daughter was communicating with about 20 men on the smartphone app Kik.
She said that one man threatened her daughter and coerced the girl into sending illicit pictures of herself to him. She said deputies told her they may never be able to track down those photos, because they don't know who has received them and where they've gone from there.
Brandy Boone said she had no idea her daughter used Kik to communicate with strangers.
"I saw the promo, I looked at the phone and I saw the app Kik, and I thought, 'If this is about the app Kik, I have to tell them that it really is dangerous and it is happening,'" Boone said.
Boone said she is speaking out to warn other parents of the nightmare she said Kik has caused her family.
“I just didn’t think my 10-year-old would be in danger so I never even thought to check her phone to see what she’s doing because she’s a good girl,” Boone said.
She said she turned her 10-year-old daughter's phone over to deputies after discovering conversations with the men.
"They were sending her pictures, nude pictures, and they actually threatened her and convinced her to send nude pictures of her," she said.
FBI agents told Channel 9's Karla Ray that the app has been the center of several local investigations.
In those cases men, including Robert Dziekan, were arrested after actually making contact with the underage victims.
Boone was told that in her case, the men may never be caught.
"It's devastating. I feel like a failure. You know, when I was growing up we didn't have Internet," Boone said. "We only had the predators walking around outside, and we have to remember that they're on the Internet and they're more dangerous on the Internet; they can get to the kids faster."
Boone said she is concerned because the phone is in her name and she worries that she could face charges.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said it’s a cautionary tale for parents.
“Obviously a parent has a responsibility to monitor a child’s internet use and their cellphone use. But you can’t monitor your child 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Sheaffer said.
Sheaffer said it is unlikely Boone will ever be in trouble because her family will forever be victimized.
“There’s no telling who can put those on all those nasty porn sites and everybody’s going to see her,” Boone said. “I can’t stop it. It’s done.”
Kik is listed among the most dangerous messenger apps and is rated for people over 17 years of age but experts said children between 11-15 years old are the main users.
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