Hartselle attorney shares importance of monitoring your child’s online activity

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - On August 27, 25-year-old Anthonie Swallow was arrested and charged with sex abuse after picking up a 16-year-old girl from Mississippi who was reported missing.

The two had been talking on a gaming app named Discord for several months before the incident. Hartselle Juvenile Attorney Patrick Caver says that parents need to be aware of apps like Discord.

“The problem with Discord is it’s more of a private chat room thing in which they can talk to anybody and it’s kind of private and is a lot of isolation involved in that and these people out there they will find a way to talk to your child,” Caver said.

Caver says children can quickly become comfortable with people like Swallow through these private messages.

“It won’t just start off with something bad it will be like a week, two weeks of talking to your child, getting your child comfortable with what they’re talking about, and then it moves up,” said Caver.

Caver said the internet is never safe for children without proper supervision.

“A lot of times when kids are doing something like this you’ll see a lot of isolation they’ll stay in their bedroom a lot,” Caver said. “They’ll be on their cell phones at 2, 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Caver says that parents should be more aware of other social media apps as well such as Instagram or Snapchat.

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