In this Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 photo, Indonesian youths browse at an internet cafe in Jakarta, Indonesia. There are growing numbers of incidents involving internet social media networks being used as a mean for children trafficking in Indonesia, at least eight reported this month alone of young girls being abducted and enslaved by men who approached them randomly on Facebook, raising concerns that the overall number of trafficked children remains grossly underestimated in the sprawling archipelago of 240 million. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
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In this Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 photo, Indonesian youths browse at an internet cafe in Jakarta, Indonesia. There are growing numbers of incidents involving internet social media networks being used as a mean for children trafficking in Indonesia, at least eight reported this month alone of young girls being abducted and enslaved by men who approached them randomly on Facebook, raising concerns that the overall number of trafficked children remains grossly underestimated in the sprawling archipelago of 240 million. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
(AP)—When a 14-year-old girl received a Facebook friend request from an older man she didn't know, she accepted it. It was the beginning of a story that is repeating itself as sexual predators find new ways to exploit Indonesia's growing obsession with social media.
The junior high student was kidnapped by the man, locked in a small room and raped repeatedly. She had been told she would be sent to an island known for child sex tourism but ended up being freed.
In the month since then, there have been at least seven other reports of Indonesian girls being abducted by people they met on Facebook. Abductors used that tactic against 27 of the 129 children reported missing this year to Indonesian child welfare officials.
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