A New Spin on a MySpace Case

On ABC News today, parents actually DO NOT blame MySpace.com for their minor daughter's lying and disappearing from their home at the beginning of June. The parents do not point fingers at the social network due to their lack of commincation with their daughter or their daughters lack of common sense in running away to meet a man in Israel.

Lester lied to her parents, secretly obtained a passport, and then disappeared from her mother's home on June 5. The family was frantic.

The 17 year old girl claims she is in love with 20 year old Abdullah Jimzawi whom she met online via MySpace.com. Both Jimzawi and Lester told ABC News they planned to be together, planned to marry.

A court is looking into whether to label Lester as a runaway and have her court watched until her 18th birthday. Lester stated she didn't plan to meet him until she was 18 and hoped he would come to the US to marry her. But facts show she did try to see him and was caught by the FBI before reaching her destination. So, she's lied once again.

Luckily her parents are being retroactive. Proactive is reserved for those who know what's going on and don't have children fleeing the country in search of an online love or adventure in a dangerous country.

Lester and Jimzawi still communicate, but the Lester family now supervises her online activity. A local court took away her passport.

Though her father should probably speak to Taylor Salliant's mom before believing his daughter is "safe in America".

My initial reaction was to isolate her and lock her up, and keep her safe here in America. But that's unrealistic. … If we were to do that, we would lose her confidence."

Confidence that should already have been lost on her. She lied, secretly gained a passport and planned a trip to Israel without her parents' knowledge. Perhaps "confidence" shouldn't be as important as making her realize the errors of her ways. Then again, if it works...At least both parents are pushing her to educate herself on teh Islamic culture. Perhaps once she realizes the rights she'll have (or not have) when converting to Islam to marry her "love" she'll think twice. Young and naive, sure. Running away to Israel to meet a stranger, there's more than simple naivite involved. Perhaps she's been very sheltered, we don't know the whole story.

Salliant's mother could take a queue from Terry Lester before believing she'll win a $30 million lawsuit against the social network,

"I blame myself," Terry Lester said. "But most importantly I blame the breakdown in communication between my family [and Katherine]."