North Texas

Prosecutor Warns About Predators on Social Media

A North Texas prosecutor says sexual predators have found a new way to lure children. They are using social media to make contact, and authorities want parents to be aware.

Ellis County District Attorney Patrick Wilson is warning parents about the dangers of social media.

On April 24, an Ellis County jury sentenced 38-year-old Charles Attaway, of DeSoto, a user of the KIK social media platform, to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors say the convicted child molester used KIK to find his victims.

“Amongst other things, he was using the app to trade pornographic images with underage children,” said Wilson. “The content of what this defendant had on his phone was very disturbing.”

On his Facebook page, the district attorney is now warning parents about KIK, writing, “I strongly encourage you to not allow your kids to use this app.”

“What’s dangerous about KIK is that it allows anonymous users,” said Wilson.

At the Boys and Girls Club in Arlington, teenagers and others have been learning about the dangers of social media.

“You have to be careful,” said 18-year-old Deoshae Cunningham. “Because there are people out there who’s not using their real identity.”

“They do worry me as a parent. So I try to monitor it now so when he gets older, he’ll be used to the monitoring,” said Keira Bauer-Severy, of Arlington.

NBC 5 reached out to KIK for comment, but we have not heard back.

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