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Jacksonville crime and safety experts give tips on children's safety in a digital world

Police said when a Jacksonville mother found out about an “inappropriate text relationship” between her 13-year-old daughter and a man, she arranged to meet the man.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crime and safety experts in Jacksonville urge families to go to the police if they believe an adult is communicating inappropriately with a child.

On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said a mother found out about an “inappropriate text relationship” between her 13-year-old daughter and Cerry Banks, 18, and arranged to meet Banks at a Popeyes Louisiana Chicken on McDuff Avenue. That’s where police said Banks confronted the mother and her two children with a gun. The situation ended with a JSO officer shooting Banks as he was running away from them with a gun, police said.

“You really don’t know what you’re walking into," said First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson. "You don’t know the dangers that exist.”

Jefferson said if a parent believes their child is having an inappropriate relationship with an adult online or on their phone, they should go to the police.

“Hats off, again, to the mother for being proactive and monitoring her child’s behavior on either a text or a computer, whatever, but she kind of placed her child as well as herself in harm’s way by taking matters into her own hands and going to meet this guy,” Jefferson said.

Jacksonville Mental Health Counselor Steven Montesinos said it’s important for parents to have conversations with their children about staying safe online and communicating with strangers.

“Almost every video game imaginable right now has an online component where people get the opportunity to interact,” Montesinos said.

The FBI offers this advice:

  • Tell your children to be extremely wary when communicating with anyone online who they do not know in real life
  • Make sure your kids use privacy settings to restrict access to their online profiles
  • Check their social media and gaming profiles and posts

“The most important thing I always tell people is you set clear rules, involve the child in setting the guidelines so they feel like it’s a shared experience and they have some say and some input they can provide,” said Montesinos.

Montesinos advises parents to pick the right time and place to have a conversation about what a child is doing online so that they're comfortable and know they won't get in trouble by telling their parents.

“The moment they start learning how to pick up a phone and play games online, that’s the time to really have a conversation,” Montesinos said.

Find more tips from the FBI here. Find resources from the Florida Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers here.

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