Katie.com: My Story by Katherine Tarox This is a story about Katie Tarbox, a teenager with an idyllic life. Being a teenager, she is not entirely happy about her life. She doesn't have any close friends to confide in in real life, and so she uses the medium of the internet to find someone who will listen to her. She meets Mark, a 23 year old man, through a chat room. She gives him her phone number, and he becomes her confidant. As Katie and Mark grow closer, he presses her to meet him in person, and finally she tells him about a swim meet she will be going to. He gets a room in the hotel that her swim team is staying in, and when she goes to meet him, he sexually molests her.
Mark was not a 23 year old man, he was Frank Kufrovich, a 41 year old pedophile. This is a horror story of what can happen through modern technology. This is a warning, a cautionary tale, which is not to say that it is only a tale. America must pay attention to her youth. Katie should not have needed the attention of Mark. Katie should have been taught not to give her whereabouts to a stranger. Frank Kufrovich should not have been allowed to grow into a pedophile, and should have been caught in an earlier offense.
Thoughtful reading.
