Their online chats began when she was 15 and got more sexual over time, and now a Los Angeles girl is suing America Online and parent company Time Warner over the conduct of the AOL chat room monitor she almost met on her 17th birthday.
Court documents filed April 1 charge that AOL failed to supervise the monitor properly and advertised falsely that its online service was safe for children. The suit also accuses the monitor – who had been appointed, ironically, to help keep chatting kids safe from sexual and other predators – of inflicting emotional distress.
AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham told reporters the company fired the monitor and tipped off authorities after learning about the situation two years ago. The monitor was 23 when he first met the girl, who began confiding in him when she was 15 about her parents’ divorce and her problems making friends, with conversations online and by telephone getting more explicit as time went on.
The monitor’s colleague became suspicious and blocked the meeting. The girl also waited two years before taking legal action, according to her attorney, Olivier Taillieu, because it was “a very confusing and painful time for her.” The girl is seeking over $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages but the actual dollar amount she seeks was not specified in her filing.
Graham said AOL chat rooms undergo rigorous screening and monitors undergo rigorous training, including criminal background checks.
