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How to secure your children from phone dating
Thousand of online daters use phone dating service to chat with women or men. But can you be sure that you are talking to full age person? No, you can't. Be carefull when using phone dating services to avoid situation explained above and also take this situation very seriuosly if have phone line and kids in your house... Read this article and know how to secure your children from dangers phone dating services might do them
A call to Live Links phone dating service - one of the most popular phone dating services - connects the willing and the curious to sometimes raunchy strangers looking for a fun time. Callers younger than 18 are asked to hang up. But a 14-year-old girl disregarded this rule and entered the world of phone chatting on Live Links last month, police say. That's how she encountered 33-year-old Timothy Chavez, an Albuquerque police detective charged Tuesday with raping her, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint.
To get on Live Links - which charges men a fee but allows women to chat for free - the girl had to record a name and make a 5-second message before she could listen to the messages left for other callers on the line.
The criminal complaint details what happened next:
The girl's call, made just after 2 p.m. on April 22 - a Friday - eventually linked her to Chavez. When he asked, she gave him directions to her house, but told him when he arrived that she did not want to have sex. After the two went inside, he first kissed her, then raped her.
In 1997, Chavez received a Medal of Meritorious Service from the department. In 1998, he received the Law Enforcement Officer/Hero of the Year Award from then Mayor Jim Baca. According to reports, Chavez shot a would-be bank robber, who was holding a hostage at gunpoint.
The girl later recognized Chavez at a Northeast Heights Furrs Cafeteria, and DNA tests linked him to the incident. Chavez was arrested and placed on paid administrative leave. He is out of jail after posting $75,000 bond.
Methner, the Live Links business director, said he was upset but not surprised that a 14-year-old girl made it into the adults-only phone system.
"As with anything that is fun, it is something kids want to go explore, something they want to learn about," he said.
The company hires people to monitor the chat line's introduction process, which includes recording a name and message, Methner said.
"Based on listening to hundreds of thousands of these messages a month, we look for language patters to keep an eye out for under-age callers or solicitation or drug-oriented conversations," he said.
Parents checking their phone bills might not see any reference to a one-time free trial, because Live Links uses a local phone number, Methner said. Albuquerque Police Department spokesman John Walsh said education is the key to keeping children off chat lines.
"Children are very impressionable, apt to be very trusting and many times don't know the consequences," Walsh said.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said his department hasn't worked on any cases involving children on phone chat lines before.
"It has always been online chat rooms. A 14-year-old has no business being on a line like that, but with that being said, they are kids and they are going to explore," White said.
DATING TIP: HOW TO SECURE CHILDREN FROM PHONE DATING
For parents concerned about their children accessing phone dating services, Albuquerque Police spokesman John Walsh and Live Links dating service business director Sid Methner offer these dating tips:
Educate children about the dangers and consequences of giving out their address or other information.
1. Call phone dating services and get your phone number blocked. Methner said it takes seconds to call Live Links' customer service center at (800) 984-6889 and have a number blocked.
2. Numerous other chat services are advertised in local newspapers and on television. Finding the customer service numbers for them might require Internet research to find parent companies.
3. Watch cell and home phone bills for calls to uncommon or 1-900 numbers. Because many phone chat services offer local numbers or first-time-free opportunities, they may not register on home billing.
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