Teen lured to Mideast

A 16-year-old Michigan girl somehow persuaded her parents to get her a passport, then flew to the Middle East to meet a man she "met" in MySpace, the Associated Press reports. She "left home without notice." After not returning her mother's calls to her cellphone, her disappearance was reported, and the Tuscola County [Mich.] Sheriff's Department "contacted the FBI, which was able to trace the teen to a Wednesday flight from New York's Kennedy International Airport to Tel Aviv, Israel, with a stop in Amman…. US officials persuaded her to return home from Amman [Jordan]," according to the AP, which added that the girl apparently contacted the man about three months ago. Whether or not the girl initiated contact, a key take-away for parents is that the vast majority of these "traveler" cases are consensual – the child is not forcibly abducted, but rather persuaded or "groomed" to go meet the predator. In the case reported by the AP in February then believed to involve "up to seven" Connecticut girls (12-16) allegedly sexually assaulted by men they'd had contact with in MySpace, all the girls told police the sex was consensual (see my coverage). To understand how the "persuasion" works (and make sure your kids are alerted to manipulation), see "How to recognize 'grooming'" and "How social influencing works."