MySpace.com teen is back in her space at home

[Buxom Wench]

Ok, I understand that kids will do things totally out of character from time to time. (ie: MY kid would NEVER do something like THAT!) Maybe it's human nature, peer pressure, stress from a million different things. Who's to say?

The problem(s) I have with this particular story:

1. where did she get the money for the airfare? (I KNOW its not cheap)

2. why did the authorities confiscate her computer?

OK, here's the article:

MySpace.com teen is back in her space at home
Detroit-to-Mideast journey ends

Monday, June 12, 2006; Posted: 8:25 a.m. EDT (12:25 GMT)


Katherine Lester is back on U.S. soil after secretly traveling to the Mideast to try to meet a MySpace pal.

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- A 16-year-old girl who tricked her parents into getting her a passport and then flew to the Mideast to be with a man she met on MySpace.com has returned to Michigan.

U.S. officials in Jordan persuaded Katherine R. Lester to turn around and go home before she reached the West Bank. Lester arrived at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan, late Friday and was taken to a private area to be reunited with her family.

She disappeared Monday after talking her parents 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.

MySpace.com is a social networking Web site with more than 72 million members that lets users post photos, blogs and journals. There have been scattered accounts of sexual predators targeting minors they met through the site.

Lester apparently contacted the man from Jericho about three months ago, Jashinske said. Jericho, a city of 17,000, is a relatively calm area of the volatile West Bank.

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.

"Thank God she was returned safely," Lester's father said Friday afternoon while awaiting her arrival.

Terry Lester said his daughter is a straight-A student and student council member. "She's a good girl. Never had a problem with her," he said.

MySpace forbids youngsters 13 and under from joining and provides special protections for those 14 and 15 -- only people on their list of friends can view their profiles. Older users also have the option of restricting certain personal data so it can be seen only by people they have identified as friends.

Shawn Lester told The Saginaw News that her daughter has "never given me a day's trouble. ... I just don't understand with all these new laws protecting America how a 16-year-old kid could get out of the country." She said her daughter never had a boyfriend and seemed to be content with that.

Katherine and her mother live in Gilford, a village about 80 miles north of Detroit in Michigan's agricultural Thumb region. Her father lives in Grand Blanc Township.

Jashinske said deputies confiscated the family's home computer and were taking it to the FBI's Bay City office for analysis. He said it remained unclear whether any laws had been violated because of Lester's age. The age of sexual consent in Michigan is 16; Katherine turns 17 on June 21.

"I'll be honest with you, we don't know if a crime's been committed," Jashinske said.

[lady Amalthea]

I saw the news story on this and according to that the man paid for her flight to Jordan so see could meet him. This makes me think he does this alot if he is willing to pay to get to meet young girls.

[Buxom Wench]

Ok, so he paid for the ticket.

From just the article I read, this girl was supposed to be pretty smart.

"a straight-A student and student council member."

Where did she put those brains of hers to accept this whole situation? She obviously knew it was wrong if she lied to her family.

I'm just glad she wasn't able to complete her journey and end up in the sex/slave trade.

[lady Amalthea]

I tend to notice that most of the times, the stories like this are usually about "smart" kids who never would do something like that. From personal experience when I was in high school, it was the so called perfect kids who were always doing stupid stuff like this. The parents never wondered what their child was doing because "just look at their record, my child would never do that, he/she is a good child, good grades, etc," These kids had that perfect record to hide behind.
Now maybe I'm just the wierd kid, but everything, and I mean everything, that I ever did my mom knew about. And that was because I always told her. I never did drugs, alcohol or slept around. For a little while I did do the internet dating thing (years ago) and was supossed to meet a guy and I told my mother everything and even read our correspondence if she wanted. I always found out that if my mom knew everything about me good and bad, she could always help me make good decisions. Most of the time as long as she knew I could pretty much do what I wanted.

[Drea Beth]

What I'd like to know is why weren't the parents paying attention to who their child was talking to on the computer and what her myspace content looked like and who her myspace friends were.

Call me over protective, but I am constantly monitoring what my son does on line... e-mail, chat, myspace... not saying he never slips anything by me, but for the most part I'm up to date on the important stuff. I can't imagine living under a rock and not having a clue. ::sigh::

Glad she's home safe... and hopefully a little wiser.

[Fion Faolan]

In response to question #2, like Jashinske said(spelling?), they weren't sure if a crime had been commited. So they no doubt took it to a computer lab to analyze and ghost the hard drive, to read any deleted files and probably find out what was passed between them. Because of international laws, this guy probably broke a law or two.

And even if he didn't in this case, what he did is ethically wrong, which means he has probably broke some other laws. Maybe lot's more. But that's for the Jericho police force to deal with.

[Ysobelle]

Can we all just hold on a sec? We don't have any idea what this guy was saying to her. We have no idea if he was saying, "Come on over here so I can boink your brains out" or "This place is nothing like Americans think it is. It's gorgeous. Come see it. It'll change your soul." Yeah, maybe not the smartest thing, but we also don't know if HE knew she was sixteen.

[Conall Crow]

Can we all just hold on a sec? We don't have any idea what this guy was saying to her. We have no idea if he was saying, "Come on over here so I can boink your brains out" or "This place is nothing like Americans think it is. It's gorgeous. Come see it. It'll change your soul." Yeah, maybe not the smartest thing, but we also don't know if HE knew she was sixteen.

So true... And that is probably why they took her computer. As mentioned before, they want to check it all out and see if they can find what all was sent between the two. And both of their MySpace accounts was probably the first things they checked out. If he paid her way over then I would think he was a bit older then her since airfaire overseas isn't cheap. But thats just my thoughts.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

A) The only thing being a "straight-A student" demonstrates is that you're good at doing schoolwork. It in no way means that you're still not a child with inclinations to do stupid stuff.


2) Has there been any confirmation that the sugar daddy in question actually is from the middle east? Maybe it's some guy from the US who pretended to be from the middle east in order to trick some random girl into flying out there to "meet" him. Cause, you know, if so... Best. Pratical joke. EVER :wink:

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

we also don't know if HE knew she was sixteen. Apparently that's not relevant since the age of consent in Michigan is 16 (and ghod only knows what it is out in Jordan).

[LadyAtlas]

Has there been any confirmation that the sugar daddy in question actually is from the middle east? Maybe it's some guy from the US who pretended to be from the middle east in order to trick some random girl into flying out there to "meet" him. Cause, you know, if so... Best. Pratical joke. EVER :wink:


That's probably what the Feds were thinking when they took her PC. You should be an investigator!!

[Alianne]

The other piece of parental stupidity in this (according to coverage on GMA this morning) was that the girl told her parents she needed a passport for a school-sponsored trip to *Canada*. And they got her one, which is how she had a passport to travel outside the country.

They live in Michigan -- she flew out of Detroit, which is a stone's throw from the Canadian border.

I'm a little baffled as to how the parents, who live near the border, did not know that an American citizen does *not* need a *passport* to enter Canada. ID, yes. Passport, no.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

I'm a little baffled as to how the parents, who live near the border, did not know that an American citizen does *not* need a *passport* to enter Canada. ID, yes. Passport, no.
I'm not sure if that's still the case. I think that post-9/11 they've become a little more strict on the border. They don't necessarily stamp the passport, but they want to see it, particularly when coming back to the US.

I could be wrong though....

[Margaret]

I'm not sure if that's still the case. I think that post-9/11 they've become a little more strict on the border. They don't necessarily stamp the passport, but they want to see it, particularly when coming back to the US.

I could be wrong though....


Nope - you do not need a passport to enter Canada.

It's something that has been discussed, espically around here with us being so close to the boarder - but nothing that has been enacted.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

Nope - you do not need a passport to enter Canada.
I know going to Canada is relatively burden-free, but what about coming back?

[Buxom Wench]

Well, I live 45 minutes from the border near Niagara Falls and it seems to be a pretty smooth crossing both ways.

[Alianne]

I know going to Canada is relatively burden-free, but what about coming back?

The last time I checked (and this was fairly recently), IIRC, you need two forms of ID to enter Canada (and to return) as a US citizen -- one of which has to be a photo ID and another issued by some governmental agency (so, for example, a photo driver's license and a birth certificate are acceptable).

Certainly, a passport can be used, but it's not required to enter or return from Canada.

[Buxom Wench]

hmmm, I went back and forth with just my drivers license.

[Bean]

It's my understanding that you now need a passport to go to the Caribbean, and after December of 2007 you will need one for Canada...........

[Calimaryn]

My brother-in-law and his wife & child moved to Toronto recently and informed us prospective visitors that we would need passports as of Dec 2007.

[Margaret]

I know going to Canada is relatively burden-free, but what about coming back?


Nope, not back either - as many have already said.


Shoot - one of my friends was going to an SCA event in Windsor and was bringing swords and a small belt knife. We called both US and Canadian authorities to see what the proper procedure would be for declairing them at the boarder. They both said it would be "no problem". Just let the person at the check point know you have them, stash them in the trunk and let them know you spoke with Sarg. Whateverhisnamewas. They were waved through coming and going.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

Ok, but you still need some kind of ID. Do Michigan 16-year-olds have drivers licenses? If not, a passport would be the next logical choice.

I'm not absolving the parents here, they certainly failed to perform their due dilligance, but asking for a passport is not necessarily suspicious on its face.

[Alianne]

Ok, but you still need some kind of ID. Do Michigan 16-year-olds have drivers licenses? If not, a passport would be the next logical choice.

I'm not absolving the parents here, they certainly failed to perform their due dilligance, but asking for a passport is not necessarily suspicious on its face.

She could have used her birth certificate -- and most public high schools nowadays have photo ID for students. (and if permits can be obtained in Michigan at 16, and she had one, it would have had both her photo and birthdate on it).....

[Isabelle Warwicke]

You can get photo ID for children younger than 16 in most states. I had one for travel purposes when my family was driving all over the US and Canada for vacation when I was 13 or so. A copy of my birth certificate was also carried.

The only reason one *needs* a passport is to travel outside the continental US. I'm fairly certain you can still get across the US/Mexico boarder with two IDs if you are a US citizen. (Anyone have recent news on this?)

And here is my big old question...it takes 8 to 12 weeks to receive a passport after application. Did the parents ever think it was suspicious that they never received any information about the 'Canada Trip' in that 2-3 months time? One would suppose that the school would send out permission slips, hotel itinerary, requests for chaperones, list it in the parental PTA newsletter, mention it in the school newspaper, ask for monetary deposits, payment plans to set up, fundraising, et al. (My brother went to France/Italy/Spain on a school trip and there were weekly newsletter updates and several parental meetings, not to mention huge $ deposits and payment plans made and special "traveling-minor" contracts to be signed by the parents, which my brother, who was already 18, did not have to have signed but still brought home.) I don't have children but I would think that you would have to be galactically stupid to get your 16-year-old daughter a passport which allows her to leave the country before you even saw a scrap of paper with any kind of information about said trip.

[Margaret]

As far as being 16 and having ID as in a driver's license - yes it is possible. Anyone can also obtain a state ID which, at least in this state, looks exactly like a driver's license - only with less number in the ID number.

Yep - the parents really dropped the ball on this one. They certainly trusted their straight A, never gave us any trouble kind of kid and took what she said at face value.

[Alianne]

And here is my big old question...it takes 8 to 12 weeks to receive a passport after application. Did the parents ever think it was suspicious that they never received any information about the 'Canada Trip' in that 2-3 months time? One would suppose that the school would send out permission slips, hotel itinerary, requests for chaperones, list it in the parental PTA newsletter, mention it in the school newspaper, ask for monetary deposits, payment plans to set up, fundraising, et al. (My brother went to France/Italy/Spain on a school trip and there were weekly newsletter updates and several parental meetings, not to mention huge $ deposits and payment plans made and special "traveling-minor" contracts to be signed by the parents, which my brother, who was already 18, did not have to have signed but still brought home.) I don't have children but I would think that you would have to be galactically stupid to get your 16-year-old daughter a passport which allows her to leave the country before you even saw a scrap of paper with any kind of information about said trip.

Point well taken. The Demi-God's a sophomore and I'm already getting information about their Senior trip to Disney World -- *two years* ahead of time.

As to the passport, they can be done on a rush basis -- and if there's a passport office locally, you can get one on a same-day basis (I was able to get passports for the Demi-God and myself in Manhattan in one day when an opportunity to go to London arose out of the blue 10 years ago -- it made for a crazy day (and having to get extra paperwork while dragging a six year old around -- he had to be there in person -- wasn't a treat, but I got it done)

But yeah, these parents do appear to be idiots, don't they?