Man traveled to Florida to have sex with 12-year-old he met online, deputies say

A North Carolina man is in custody at the Orange County Jail, charged with having sex with a minor after allegedly traveling to Osceola County to meet a 12-year-old girl he had communicated with on social media.Investigators say 22-year-old Edar Fabricio Dejesus-Matheu picked up the girl and drove her to a hotel in Orange County.The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of the missing girl, whose parents believed she was spending the night at a friend’s house.Detectives tracked the girl’s phone to the hotel, where they discovered the two had been planning their meet up for several months.Larry Magid, CEO of ConnectSafely.org, emphasized the importance of educating young people about online risks, saying, “We work with law enforcement and parents and groups like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to educate young people about avoiding those kinds of risks, but unfortunately, these predators can be very, very manipulative.”Magid explained that Safer Internet Day, a global initiative promoting safe and responsible use of digital technology, is an opportunity to empower children to recognize genuine friends from strangers who may exploit them.”The best inoculation is education from an early age and again, not to scare them but to empower them to know the difference between somebody who is a genuine friend, like somebody they know in the real world, or a stranger that may appear to be a friend but is out to exploit them,” he said.Magid advised parents to engage in open conversations with their children about their online activities.”You should talk to your children frankly, you should ask them what services they use, how they protect themselves. You should talk to them about privacy. Do it initially in an upbeat way, like what’s fun about Instagram, or Snapchat or whatever it is they use,” he said.He stressed the importance of recognizing red flags in online interactions. “As soon as the conversation starts to become intimate, it’s time to bail out. If they ask you to move to another platform, let’s say you met them on Snapchat or Roblox, Instagram and they want to go off to another platform. No. You’re going to lose all the protections that these platforms have. They may want to go to an encrypted platform. If they say, ‘well this is our secret.’ That’s a red flag,” Magid said.Parents are encouraged to have frequent conversations with their children, understand the apps they are using and read parent guides to ensure their safety online.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

A North Carolina man is in custody at the Orange County Jail, charged with having sex with a minor after allegedly traveling to Osceola County to meet a 12-year-old girl he had communicated with on social media.

Investigators say 22-year-old Edar Fabricio Dejesus-Matheu picked up the girl and drove her to a hotel in Orange County.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of the missing girl, whose parents believed she was spending the night at a friend’s house.

Detectives tracked the girl’s phone to the hotel, where they discovered the two had been planning their meet up for several months.

Larry Magid, CEO of ConnectSafely.org, emphasized the importance of educating young people about online risks, saying, “We work with law enforcement and parents and groups like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to educate young people about avoiding those kinds of risks, but unfortunately, these predators can be very, very manipulative.”

Magid explained that Safer Internet Day, a global initiative promoting safe and responsible use of digital technology, is an opportunity to empower children to recognize genuine friends from strangers who may exploit them.

“The best inoculation is education from an early age and again, not to scare them but to empower them to know the difference between somebody who is a genuine friend, like somebody they know in the real world, or a stranger that may appear to be a friend but is out to exploit them,” he said.

Magid advised parents to engage in open conversations with their children about their online activities.

“You should talk to your children frankly, you should ask them what services they use, how they protect themselves. You should talk to them about privacy. Do it initially in an upbeat way, like what’s fun about Instagram, or Snapchat or whatever it is they use,” he said.

He stressed the importance of recognizing red flags in online interactions.

“As soon as the conversation starts to become intimate, it’s time to bail out. If they ask you to move to another platform, let’s say you met them on Snapchat or Roblox, Instagram and they want to go off to another platform. No. You’re going to lose all the protections that these platforms have. They may want to go to an encrypted platform. If they say, ‘well this is our secret.’ That’s a red flag,” Magid said.

Parents are encouraged to have frequent conversations with their children, understand the apps they are using and read parent guides to ensure their safety online.