What should parents know about kids' cyber activities?

News of a 14-year-old girl who left her south Salem home and was later found with a 41-year-old man she met online brought the nationwide concern of teens' activities online to Salem's doorstep Thursday.

According to a sergeant with the Martinez, Calif., police, Chloe Nelson and Blake Robert Johnston had an online relationship for several months unbeknownst to the girl's mother.

Salem Police said Nelson was discovered missing from her home on Tuesday and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were unusual. However, she appeared to have left on her own accord. The following day, she was located unharmed in California with Johnston.

Martinez police confirmed that Johnston was arrested and accused of kidnapping.

The case reiterated the need for parents to be more aware of their children's online activity, said Lisa Buik, vice president of the parent club at Claggett Creek Middle School, where, coincidentally, Keizer Police held a class Thursday night surrounding the tech-savvy kids and what their parents should know to keep them safe.

"It's important to stay up on what they're doing," Buik said.

Most parents who attend the course have no idea what their children are doing online or what they can do about it, said Sgt. Trevor Wenning, supervisor of the school resource unit and 17-year veteran of the Keizer Police Department.

Wenning said that the presentation's target audience is parents who want to know more about how to monitor their children's activities online. He has held several classes of this type around Keizer. He recognized the need based on frequent reports by school resource officers about cyberbullying and sexting.

"I kept seeing a common theme, typically at the middle school age and above. It is harassment on Facebook and on the phone. Then you get a little older and it's the cyberbullying with the nudity," Wenning said.

He starts every presentation with a disclaimer, in case parents aren't comfortable with their children learning about the class' sensitive topics.

"We talk about sex crimes," he said. "I put a disclaimer out there saying this is sensitive."

The focus is social media without parental oversight. Wenning said generally parents understand the consequences of kids' actions but don't understand the technology they're using, while kids understand the social media but don't understand the consequences.

"I think it's good information for kids to have," said Justine Christensen, treasurer of Claggett Creek's parent club. "Some of the kids don't really get what they're doing. It could follow them forever."

The class went through the sites and apps youth are spending their time on and which parents should be wary of. It also touched on the topic of sexting: how it is defined by both Urban Dictionary and criminal law.

Wenning listed the associated crimes, including encouraging sex abuse, luring a minor, attempted sex abuse, using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct and online sexual corruption of a minor.

"Once we go through the laws I give case studies in Oregon where the defendant was arrested, and give an overview of the case and what they were arrested with," Wenning said.

He mentioned the pertinent case of Bryan Tilley, of Keizer, who was convicted of burglary and invasion of privacy. The case started in October of 2013 when Tilley's stepdaughter reported to Corvallis Police that she had a stalker, later identified as Tilley, who had taken over her social media accounts, slashed the tires of her roommate's car and was sending threatening emails. During investigation, police found a USB drive with videos that showed secret recordings in a number of private rooms and showed several women in various states of nudity.

Wenning also gave examples of national cases and the more serious effects of cyberbullying, including teen suicide.

At previous presentations, Keizer Police invited mobile phone carriers like AT&T and Verizon to be part of the conversation and inform parents of technology they can use to closely monitor their children's activity.

"They're coming in with no idea and that's why they're there," Wenning said.

jdewitt@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter.com @Joce_DeWitt