By Tove Tupper
 
October 23, 2008
 
MEDFORD, Ore. -- The Rasmussen case has raised concerns about teen safety online.
 
47-year-old Medford Businessman Kelly Ray Rasmussen was arrested in Clackamas County Tuesday by Intercept, a Portland area high crimes task force. Police say he was going to meet a law enforcement officer posing as a 13-year-old. They say Rasmussen had been speaking to the fictitious teen online since July.
 
More than 300,000 new people sign up for a MySpace account every day, and more than 29,000 registered sex offenders have a MySpace page. MySpace requires users to be at least 14 to have a page.
 
"But we find all the time eight and nine-year-olds who lie about their age to have a MySpace page," says Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force Commander Josh Moulin.
 
Moulin says one way to protect yourself is to add a law enforcement official as your friend. Other ways include setting your profile to private, which only adds people you know, and not giving out information, such as where you live, where you go to school, and where you work.
 
"The reality is these days, it's not kids getting picked up at the park or at the street corner. It's kids getting picked up on the internet," says Moulin.
 
Police say understand their children's online jargon is also important for parents.
 
The High-Tech Crimes Task Force has an internet safety contract form that outlines safety precautions which parents and teens can sit down together to discuss and then sign. They also have a page on MySpace.