Katie.com

The frightening true story of a teenager's search for love online

Katherine Tarbox

This is a true first-hand account of a sad and lonely teenager living in New Canaan, Connecticut, who went through a traumatic experience when she was thirteen: she. made contact with a man in an on-line chat-room, and thought she was falling in love. Katie believed she was in touch with Mark, a 23-year college student. She admits he seduced her by making her laugh and making her feel loved.

Unknown to her family she arranged a meeting with him.. To her horror ‘Mark’ turned out to be ‘Frank’ a 41-year-old paedophile. Katie soon found she was out of her depth, but fortunately she had confided in a friend at the last moment, who told Katie’s mother, and the police came banging on the hotel-room door.

As bad as that experience was, things were to get worse, and the way her family and school-friends reacted brought Katie to the edge of a breakdown. She was told she had let everybody down, disgraced herself and behaved badly. Even when told of ‘Frank’s’ involvement with other children, she still blamed herself for what had happened and suffered overwhelming feelings of guilt.

The FBI became involved and Katie had a hard time distinguishing between ‘Mark’, whom she still felt she loved, and ‘Frank’, who was to be prosecuted. For eventually he was the first person to be prosecuted in the US for sexual harassment of a minor arising from a web contact.

Katie.com is a warning to the dangers on the Internet, and includes suggestions for parents on how to protect their children while they are on-line. The book also includes a list of beneficial Internet sites for helping to make the Internet a safe place.

Katie Tarbox, who tells her own devastating story in this book, is now eighteen and has her own website (KatieT.com); she is a campaigner for new safety awareness.

© Jill Curtis 2002

Orion Books £9.99

  Dutton $19.95

and is available from  ISBN 0525945431

and from    ISBN 0 752841343