Note: While these stories are based on actual events, names and certain details have been altered or removed to protect the privacy of the subjects.

An invitation... to trouble

The Bryant family computer was almost always in use. They agreed to set up the desktop computer on a corner table in the breakfast room for easy access. The three kids each had their own password-protected email accounts, and were free to use the Internet whenever they wanted. Software was installed on the computer to screen inappropriate emails and block access to adult/illicit websites.

Lizzie, the oldest child, was 11 and used the Internet frequently for school work and to email her friends. She also visited a few science fiction chatrooms where she would chat with other fans about her favourite shows and create her own fan fiction. Somewhere along the way she became friends with Zak, a high school freshman. Despite their age difference they hit it off and had lots to talk about: their favourite shows, movies, and an endless debate about whether Deep Space Nine was the best series in the franchise. Occasionally, their correspondence moved from chatrooms to direct emails.

One weekend, Lizzie started getting sexually explicit emails from an unknown sender. She was grossed out by graphic invitations to a chatroom for cybersex but too embarrassed to tell her parents. But her family knew about it—the computer's screening software also sent the subject line and addresses of all emails to Lizzie's father's personal account.

Lizzie's father sent the information to a cyber tipline for review. Law enforcement officials eventually tracked the harassing emails to Zak's older brother, who had been sending them to Lizzie and some other girls Zak knew. He was charged with luring.