Speaking to news.com.au, the mum (referred to as 'Sarah') admitted to being the kind of parent to check her children's devices so she knows who they're talking to. While some might consider that unreasonable, Sarah is very glad she did.
Scrolling through her girl's iPad, she came across screen-captured photos from the messenger app, Kik Messenger, that showed 5 different conversations with two men claiming to be 23 and 25. In the conversation the men were trying to find out the girl's name, and address. They also were trying to find out how they could meet.
They also sent her vulgar sexual photos and videos, said Sarah. Shockingly the photos and videos involved sexual acts with young girls, one of whom 'couldn’t have been older than her.'
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Her daughter had apparently found the communication upsetting, and deleted the app - but Sarah can't help but imagine how bad it could have gotten.
'I’m just glad I found it now. We could have been trying to get these messages because she was missing. I’m glad I found it before something more happened.'
'My daughter has now seen horrible, horrible things that I just can’t take out of her head now,' says Sarah.
'She could have been groomed to the point where she took off and was raped and murdered.'
Sarah is now collecting signatures on her change.org petition to ban the Kik Messenger app and she is urging parents to treat these matters seriously.
'So many people just brush it off when they hear that things like this can happen and they don’t take it seriously, but if it can happen to my daughter, it can happen to anyone.'
This article first published on New Idea.
