Sex attack on Bebo teenage girl

Apr 14 2008 By Jeanette Oldham

A 13 YEAR-OLD girl was sexually assaulted by a man after jokingly advertising herself as a 'whore' on the Bebo website, it was claimed last night.

Police are investigating whether the girl was targeted by a pervert she may have unwittingly met on the social networking site.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Mercury has discovered how other young Midland girls are putting themselves at risk by posting sleazy pictures and personal details of themselves on the internet.

The girls add suggestive comments to attract Bebo perverts and increase profile views to make them appear more popular among friends.

POLICE are investigating whether a pervert targeted a 13 year-old schoolgirl after she posted her profile on Bebo - and jokingly called herself a 'whore'.

The youngster was sexually assaulted in an alleyway in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, last Friday night.

Warwickshire Police say the pervert, believed to be in his late teens, then made off on a BMX bike.

But the Sunday Mercury has learned that detectives are exploring whether the victim may have met her attacker through Bebo, the internet social networking website.

Officers are examining a personal profile which the youngster is said to have posted on the site, which is predominantly used by teenage girls.

Sources say she jokingly described herself as a 'whore' and made herself out to be older than she was.

The term 'Bebo whore' is often used on the web to describe someone who "acts like a whore" to bring attention to their Bebo account, according to an online dictionary of internet phrases.

The Urban Dictionary defines a Bebo whore as "users who have lots of slutty pictures and add lots of people they don't know to their friends' list to make them look popular.

"They leave comments around Bebo usually of a suggestive nature to attract Bebo perverts, increase their profile views and look popular.

"A Bebo whore can get so wrapped up in the attention she receives off 'beboers' that her real social life becomes practically non-existent and other important things like sleep and work are pushed aside.

"A majority of girls Bebo-whoring are underage."

The Sunday Mercury understands that police are looking for a 19 year-old local man in connection with the sex attack.

It took place at around 9pm in Croft Road, in the Stockingford area of Nuneaton, between Pete's chip shop and Tesco Express.

Sources within the community say the girl was a frequent user of the internet and social networking sites.

The shocking case comes just days after a survey revealed that an increasing number of children have met up with strangers from the internet.

The study was carried out by online advertising company Broadbean Technology and looked at sites such as Bebo, Face-book and MySpace.

It discovered that a quarter of children aged eight to 11 are bypassing online age restrictions and putting personal details about themselves online - and even meeting strangers.

The new survey was based on interviews with children at three London schools.

Twenty-one per cent of girls and 28 per cent of boys admitted putting themselves at risk from paedophiles by meeting so-called 'cybr friends' in person.

The figures back up a report by Ofcom last week which revealed parents are alarmingly ignorant of the danger posed to children by such sites.

The Home Office has now announced that perverts who prey on children will be made to hand over e-mail addresses to social networking sites.

These sites will then be able to ban them from their services after police pass on their details. If the offenders do not give their e-mail address, or give incorrect ones, they could face up to five years in prison. Keith Robinson, Broadbeen Technology's European director, said: "The web is not a secret place, but it is teenage rebellion online and children see MySpace literally as their own space away from parents.

"Parents need to let them have their virtual world, but establish clear old-fashioned rules in the physical one, where it is unacceptable to go and meet a stranger without their consent."

A trawl of social network sites revealed the shocking, highly personal content youngsters are uploading for all to see.

They include a 15 year-old girl whose profile picture, which can be viewed by anyone, focuses on her breasts.

Another 15 year-old is pictured sitting provocatively, exposing her breasts and bare legs up to her thigh.

And we found one 16 year-old girl who is seen posing in her underwear in dozens of photographs.

Popular sites Bebo and Facebook state that users must be 13 or older, while MySpace users must be 14.

Yet many children simply lie about their age to gain access.

An Ofcom report, which surveyed 8,500 adults and children, reveals that half of all eight to 17 year-old internet users - about four million people - have a personal profile.

This compares with 22 per cent of adults. Ofcom said two-thirds of children using social networking sites were on Bebo, while another third were on MySpace and Face-book.

Facebook is most popular with adults.

Robin Blake, head of media literacy at Ofcom, said: "There is an issue about parents who are allowing their children to go online without any supervision.

"They need to recognise that their children are potentially at risk."

A spokesman for the police's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said: "Where children go, sex offenders will follow.

"The first step is getting parents to acknowledge and understand that risk."

Tory MP Philip Davies, who sits on the culture, media and sport select committee, said: "Parents just don't understand what the potential risks are because they don't understand the technology."

Brenda Stafford, development manager at children's charity Kidscape, said the "risk was high" with networking sites.

She said: "Whilst not every child is going out to meet these people, they are still passing information backwards and forwards.

"They feel perhaps they are talking to someone of their own age and freely giving information about themselves and their families."

MySpace was hit by scandal last year after it admitted it had detected and barred 29,000 registered US sex offenders.

And in 2007, a paedophile was jailed for having underage sex with a teenage girl he met on the social networking website Facebook.

* Nuneaton Police are asking for witnesses who saw either the girl or the man before or after the attack to contact them on 02476 483083. jeanette_oldham@mrn.co.uk..SUPL: