Man Grooms Boy via Text, Media Blames Games
Sigh. How many more times must we go through this?
A 19-year-old young adult has pleaded guilty to three charges of sending sexually offensive and indecent messages to an 11-year-old boy. Although messages were sent via phone and social networks, the media has chosen to run the story with a 'video game blame' angle thanks to an online encounter on an Xbox 360.
Cambridge Magistrates' Court heard that Chris Buckeridge had begun chatting to the boy as they played an unspecified "violent" game online together. The prosecution argued that "He first spoke with the defendant on screen and Mr Buckeridge said a lot of rude, scary and threatening things – telling him to do sexual things."
Since the meeting on Xbox Live, Buckeridge was able to obtain the boy's mobile phone number after becoming friends on Facebook. He later sent 'lewd' and 'offensive' messages on three separate occasions during May this year.
Presiding Magistrate Brenda Anderson revealed that Buckeridge was drunk whilst he sent the offending text messages - and yet a headline on local website Cambridge News reads "Video gamer preyed on boy, aged 11." She sentenced him to a 36-month community order.
"You may have been playing surreal games that take you into another world and you may have been drunk, but this is reality," Anderson said as she cast the judgement. Now, we wonder which is the more likely catalyst - Grand Theft Auto, a game known for its sexual predatory nature (except not really), or alcohol and the lack of online risk awareness? We'll let you be the judge of that one.
Cambridge Magistrates' Court heard that Chris Buckeridge had begun chatting to the boy as they played an unspecified "violent" game online together. The prosecution argued that "He first spoke with the defendant on screen and Mr Buckeridge said a lot of rude, scary and threatening things – telling him to do sexual things."
Since the meeting on Xbox Live, Buckeridge was able to obtain the boy's mobile phone number after becoming friends on Facebook. He later sent 'lewd' and 'offensive' messages on three separate occasions during May this year.
Presiding Magistrate Brenda Anderson revealed that Buckeridge was drunk whilst he sent the offending text messages - and yet a headline on local website Cambridge News reads "Video gamer preyed on boy, aged 11." She sentenced him to a 36-month community order.
"You may have been playing surreal games that take you into another world and you may have been drunk, but this is reality," Anderson said as she cast the judgement. Now, we wonder which is the more likely catalyst - Grand Theft Auto, a game known for its sexual predatory nature (except not really), or alcohol and the lack of online risk awareness? We'll let you be the judge of that one.
Read More Like This
Comments
irritant 20 Oct 2011 10:20
1/3
And how many adults have been told to "go f* themselves" by 11 year olds in video games? Isn't that pretty much the same thing in reverse?
majin dboy 20 Oct 2011 12:15
2/3
not really any perverted sexual under tone to 11 year old saying that though is there?
Angry Video Game Fan 20 Oct 2011 14:12
3/3
Blaming video games for things like this is becoming the norm. People don't get influenced to do things like this by video games, and if they do there's clearly an underlying mental issue to lay the blame on.
Video Games are not a scapegoat for the worlds problems, stop treating them as such.
¬_¬ I'm super cereal right now.
Video Games are not a scapegoat for the worlds problems, stop treating them as such.
¬_¬ I'm super cereal right now.