11-year-old drove 200 miles to meet a man from Snapchat, South Carolina cops say
A police officer was parked in a lot at about 12:30 a.m. Monday when an 11-year-old boy drove up by himself and told the officer he was lost, Charleston police said.
The boy told police he had driven 200 miles by himself from Simpsonville to Charleston, South Carolina, to live with a man he had met on Snapchat, the department said in a press release.
Snapchat is an online messaging and social media platform that deletes messages automatically when they expire, usually within 24 hours.
The boy told police he took his brother’s car for the 3-hour drive and got lost, the department said. His tablet with directions to the unknown man’s address lost its GPS connection, police said.
Police contacted the boy’s father and his family drove down to Charleston to pick him up, police said.
Charleston police warned that parents should teach children how to safely use the internet, sharing tips from the South Carolina Attorney General.
The Attorney General’s tips include:
- “Establish an ongoing dialogue and keep lines of communication open”
- “Don’t be overly critical of your child’s use of the internet”
- “Explore the Internet together as a family”
- “Talk to you child about the risks of meeting ‘online friends’ in person”
- “Create online rules with together with your family”
- “Talk to your child about sharing personal information”
- “Take advantage of Privacy Settings on all Websites and Apps”
This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 10:35 AM.
