Girl, 14, Sues MySpace.com Alleging Assault

FishTail · 06-20-06, 01:34 PM

AUSTIN, Texas — A 14-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by another user of MySpace.com sued the social networking Web site Monday, claiming it does not take sufficient steps to protect underage members.

The girl says a 19-year-old man lied in his profile about being a senior on a football team to gain her trust and phone number.

Pete Solis was arrested in May on a charge of sexual assault of a child. He could not immediately be reached Monday evening.

The suit alleges that MySpace has "absolutely no meaningful protections or security measures to protect underage users."

"(MySpace) has got to take this seriously," said attorney Carl Barry, who is representing the girl and her mother. The suit seeks $30 million.

In a statement, MySpace said it is committed to the safety of its members.

"We take aggressive measures to protect our members," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer. "Ultimately, Internet safety is a shared responsibility. We encourage everyone on the Internet to engage in smart Web practices and have open family dialogue about how to apply offline lessons in the online world."

chron.com

**conalabu** · 06-20-06, 01:35 PM

Knew it was going to happen. Way too much publicity over that thing lately. Anyone remember when AIM came out?

**Autumn2009** · 06-20-06, 01:35 PM

So it's myspaces' fault that your stupid?

**General Patten** · 06-20-06, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Post#83Chief

So it's myspaces' fault that your stupid?

of course... Id say that merits a check for $30million, dont you?

Well, see ya, Im just gonna go to MySpace and make a date with a complete stranger now... I could use the cash...

**Whitewolf** · 06-20-06, 02:35 PM

She SHOULD KNOW better NOT to ADD complete STRANGERS to her "friends" list if she DON'T KNOW them. She can only ADD her buddies from high school. What's wrong with her??? Some kids nowadays are adding more and more strangers to their friends list. Sounds alarming to me...and even some kids already registered and are NOT 14 yet..they're 11 to 13. ARGH!!!!!!!

**Autumn2009** · 06-20-06, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by General Patten

of course... Id say that merits a check for $30million, dont you?

Well, see ya, Im just gonna go to MySpace and make a date with a complete stranger now... I could use the cash...

I think they should take the parents out back beat them with a shoe and call it good, obviously active parenting is not happening.

Anyone hear about the chick that flew to the Middle East to meet a guy she met on the internet, not sure if it was Myspace.

The mom just couldn't figure it out. dur!