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In all these stories remember that the children have not done anything wrong. The adults that have abducted them have done something wrong.

Luckily, these types of situations do NOT happen very often. Follow the Rules of Safety and you will make yourself even more safe from people like this.

• John had trouble making friends his own age. So, he began to form friendships with children between the ages of 4 and 13. John had very weird ideas about girls and boys, he had dreams about hurting them.

  One day he told two girls, aged 5 and 12, that his family was moving and had some dolls to give away. John asked the girls if they would like to have the dolls. He persuaded the girls to come to a heavily wooded area by promising to show them the dolls. Once they got in the woods, however, he threatened them with a knife. Fortunately, he let the girls go after a short time.

  Three weeks later, the girls were in the school's library and recognized John who was also at the library. The girls told the police and he was arrested and put in jail.

  What happened was NOT the girls' fault. What could they have done though to have lessened their chance of being taken advantage of by this man? Check out Rules #1, #4, and #6, again.
  
  

• At age 19, Mike decided he was going to abduct a young boy. So, he rode around on his bicycle until he passed by a bus stop. Mike struck up a conversation with one of the kids at the stop. He asked the young boy to show him a good bike trail. The 9-year-old boy agreed.

  Once they were in a wooded area, Mike forced the boy to drink a mixture of Cola and a drug. He then asked the boy to do some things for him, but the boy refused. This made Mike very angry so he beat the boy. Luckily, a short time later, the boy was found with only minor injuries. Mike was arrested by police for kidnapping and will be in jail for a very long time.

  What happened was NOT the boy's fault. Mike was an extremely violent and mean person. If the boy had followed a few rules, he may have been able to avoid this horrible situation. Check out Rules #1, #2, #4 and #5, again.
  
  

• A boy, age 6, went to a movie with his family. About half-way through the movie he had to go to the bathroom. He asked his mother if he could go by himself. She said it was Ok. When he got to the bathroom there was an older man there. The man grabbed the boy and took him out of the bathroom. The boy screamed and cried. Other people in the movie theater thought that what was happening was strange.

  The man said over and over to the boy, "I told you that if you acted up that I would take you home." He made people believe that he was the boy's father and that the boy had behaved badly in the theater.

  Luckily, somebody at the theater realized that something terrible was going on because the boy was screaming and crying very hard--too hard. So, she followed the man, but he ran to his car with the boy and then sped away. Luckily, the man's car broke down only a few blocks away. And by this time, the police came, arrested the man, and saved the boy from a frightening situation.

  What happened could not really have been prevented by the boy. But check out Rules #5 and #8, again for good measure.
  
  

• One evening Joe was out cruising around in his car when he saw an 11-year-old girl walking down the road. He pulled over and asked her for directions to the park. As she went to the vehicle, he pulled out a gun and told her to get in the car.

  She got in the car and he tied her up. Joe then drove to a wooded area. He got scared when he heard gunshots in the area, probably some hunters, so he left the girl tied up in the woods. Police found the girl, frightened but unharmed, a short time later. Later on, the police arrested Joe for abducting the girl.

  What happened was NOT the girl's fault. What could she have done though to have lessened her chance of being taken advantage of by this man? Check out Rules #1, #2, and #5, again.
  
  

• Mark approached a 13-year-old boy who was jogging near his home in the early evening. Mark asked the boy to help him carry a dog that he had hit with his car. The boy got into the car and Mark drove away with him.

  Mark tied up the boy and covered him with a blanket. After driving around for several hours Mark took the boy to his house. Mark left the house later that evening. The boy loosened the ropes and escaped to a nearby house. He told the people there what happened and they called the police. Mark was arrested that evening.

  • What happened was NOT the boy's fault. What else could he have done? Check out Rules #1, #2, #4, and #5, again.