Online Flirtation Takes Dangerous Turn

Teenage Girl Met Assailant On Social Networking Site

(CBS)  One of the primary goals of a teenager is to get attention, to socialize and to try on different identities. And despite the dangers, networking sites such as myspace.com have become popular places to go and meet new people.

But as The Early Show correspondent Tracy Smith reports in her second installment of a three part series, sometimes teens give out too much information.

In the vast social exchange that is myspace.com, kids can sometimes read a lot into a message from a stranger and experts say that in most sexual assault cases involving the Internet, predators are actually invited by their victims. The seduction takes place online, and teens are more vulnerable than they think.

Ashley Martin, 15, is like many kids her age, using the Web to socialize. She quickly got hooked on the networking Web site myspace.com, which brings the outside world in.

"It is so addictive," Ashley says. "It's nationwide. I mean it's everywhere."

Kids create their own personas on MySpace, by posting pictures and describing themselves in detail. For some, the idea is to post pictures that will attract the most comments.

Ashley says the best comments her postings got were "Oh, you're so hot."

For many teens, online conversations can quickly turn to sex.

"People will message you, 'Oh, you're beautiful,' or 'Hi, you're sexy. Can I get your number?' " Ashley explains. "And you're, like, 'Hey.' You know, it's just harmless. What does it matter if I say 'Oh, hey' back or give them my cell phone just to talk to 'em. Because it makes you feel better about yourself. You're like 'Hey, look, I'm wanted from another guy.' I'm attractive, they want to talk to me."

Like many girls, Ashley found herself getting hooked on the attention. She started posting sexier pictures to get more comments.

"She didn't let me see that too much," says Ashley's mom Margaret. "But as the pictures evolved I said, 'Ashley that's not an appropriate pose.' And I didn't know that those people weren't her friends, either. I had no idea they were from another state or another city."