Mariea Dotson allows her 12-year-old daughter to log on to Facebook with her supervision. Earlier this week when her daughter received inappropriate messages from an unknown person out of Corpus Christi, Texas, she immediately took action.
The person, who has not yet been identified, tried to lure Dotson’s daughter into video chatting with him. They attempted to blackmail her by bluffing that they would tell her family she'd taken suggestive pictures if she didn’t send them some.
"You in bed?," the person asked the girl on Facebook Messenger. "Go into your room."
"Pls leave me alone," she replied. "I'm only twelve."
Even after she told them she would call the police, the person continued to make the requests.
"Do one favor," the unknown person said, telling the girl he wouldn't show her mother "the pics."
The girl said she had no pictures for them to show.
Worried and distraught, the 12-year-old girl ran to her mother to show her the messages.
Dotson messaged the person back, writing, "Motherf---er you better start running right now the police are on their way. This is her mom."
Dotson immediately contacted the local sheriff's department as well as the Corpus Christi Police department. The incident is under investigation.
Dotson feels the person behind the screen knew exactly what they were doing.
“[These kids] feel alone and then these predators come in and use that against them to try and get what they want,” Dotson said.
She believes being able to communicate with your kids is important and makes children more comfortable to come to you when something like this happen.
“We have to protect these kids," she said. "This is insane,”
