FC: Mich Kabay on young girl strangled... and blaming the Net

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Wed May 22 2002 - 22:40:15 PDT

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    Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 07:37:28 -0400
    From: Mich Kabay <mkabayat_private>
    Subject: NEWS: Confusing cause and means
    Sender: Mich Kabay <mkabayat_private>
    To: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private>
    
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    * * * SUBMISSION TO POLITECH* * *
    
    A thirteen-year-old girl was strangled and her corpse dumped in a
    ravine last week, allegedly by a 25-year-old man who corresponded
    with her via the Internet.
    
    Christina Long of Danbury CT had apparently met her married
    electronic pen pal in person on other occasions.
    
    In a report published by foxnews.com at <
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53291,00.html >, one child
    commented, "She was really obsessed with computers. . . .  That's
    what got her into trouble ... computers."
    
    The child's comment is unfortunately a reflection of a widespread and
    fundamental confusion between communication medium and cause.
    Parents and guardians who wouldn't dream of sending their children
    into a prostitution or drug zone in their local area seem to be
    willing to leave their kids online without supervision for hours at a
    time.
    
    Blaming computers or the Internet for the harm done to children by
    pedophiles and other criminals is equivalent to blaming the telephone
    system for facilitating murder and fraud.
    
    For a series of simple, short guides with practical suggestions and
    resources about child and adult safety when communicating with other
    people via the Internet, see the Cyberwatch series at
    
             http://www2.norwich.edu/mkabay/cyberwatch/index.htm
    
    I would be happy to see this series republished in local newspapers;
    please let your local editors know that I have the copyright on this
    series and am making it freely available to anyone who wants to use
    the items verbatim.  If anyone wants to use the material on the Web,
    however, please link rather than copy so that I can update the
    articles in a single place.
    
    
    M. E. Kabay, PhD, CISSP -- AssocProf Information Assurance
    Dept CompInfoSys, Norwich University, Northfield VT
    http://www2.norwich.edu/mkabay/index.htm
    
    
    * * * ORIGINAL NEWS STORY FOR REFERENCE * * *
    
    Cops: Teen Girl Lured on Internet, Killed
    Tuesday, May 21, 2002
    
    http://www.foxnews.com
    
    A pretty Connecticut cheerleader who mysteriously vanished last week
    was found strangled in a Greenwich ravine yesterday -- and her
    cyber-suitor has confessed to her sickening murder, cops said.
    
    Christina Long, 13, a popular student at St. Peter Catholic School in
    Danbury, disappeared Friday after her aunt, Shelly Reilly, dropped
    her off at about 5:45 p.m. at the Danbury Fair Mall.
    
    Investigators believe Christina made her way to a nearby McDonald's,
    where she met Saul Dos Reis, 25, a married man with whom she had been
    communicating online. It wasn't known how long the two corresponded,
    but cops said they had met before in person.
    
    "She was really obsessed with computers," best pal Thamiris Silva
    said. "That's what got her into trouble ... computers."
    
    When her aunt went to retrieve her, Christina didn't show up. Reilly
    called cops and begged neighbors for any information on the girl's
    whereabouts -- to no avail.
    
    After an intense manhunt, local cops and FBI agents began focusing on
    the teen's bedroom computer, where they discovered provocative
    messages from Dos Reis, cops said. Pals said Christina spent hours on
    the computer and often spoke of teen boys she'd met online.
    
    Dos Reis -- an illegal Brazilian immigrant -- was taken into custody
    early Sunday and charged with the federal crime of using the Internet
    to entice a child for sex.
    
    Danbury Detective Rachel Halas said Dos Reis also confessed to her
    murder and led them to where he dumped the body, a ravine off King
    Street in North Greenwich. Officials said she'd been strangled.
    
    They did not say whether she had been sexually assaulted. Nor would
    they comment on the details of the e-mail correspondence.
    
    The slaying of the blue-eyed, 5-foot-1, 125-pound teen has stunned
    the community.
    
    The tragedy has also been devastating to her classmates at St. Peter,
    where she transferred last fall and was co-captain of the
    cheerleading squad. Counselors will be on hand at the school today -
    where the flag flew at half-staff.
    
    "It's a bad day, we're very sad today," said principal Josephine
    Ferry, who added that Christina started sixth grade at the school
    last fall.
    
    "She was a sweet, sweet girl."
    
    Last fall, after her parents' divorce, Christina left her hometown of
    New Milford and moved into her aunt's two-story house. She was
    recently baptized as a Catholic.
    
    The Rev. Albert Audette, who has been comforting the family, said her
    aunt is devastated.
    
    "Of course, there's a great deal of blame and a great deal of pain in
    the family," Audette said. "Her aunt blames herself terribly for not
    knowing these things about her niece."
    
    Dos Reis came to the United States when he was 10 and apparently
    worked at his father's Port Chester restaurant. He graduated from
    Greenwich High School in 1997 and worked in service jobs.
    
    A former neighbor wasn't surprised by the sinister turn of events.
    Dos Reis was described as "quiet" and his wife, Tatiana, became that
    way too after the couple married.
    
    "He never talked to me, to say good morning or anything. His wife,
    Tatiana, was very friendly -- until they got married," the neighbor
    said.
    
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53291,00.html
    
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