CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral mom has a warning after she says she caught a local man messaging her 8-year-old daughter on Facebook.
The outraged mom took to Facebook — posting screenshots of those messages in a post now shared over two thousand times.
The mom says the very first message to her daughter was on August 3, but it wasn't until earlier this week that she noticed the message sitting unread in her daughter's message request inbox on Facebook.
"I was just in shock," said the mom.
The mom says when she saw the messages, she replied and acted as if she was her daughter.
"I just couldn't believe it was someone I knew, and he is a well-known person in this community."
But the mom — who asked to conceal her identity — says the man was not friends with her daughter on Facebook.
The conversation started with him asking her, her age.
"When he asked the age, I didn't want to say eight because I felt like he might have backed up and not responded."
Instead, she replied that she was 13-years-old.
"If I had just said I'm 8-years-old, he would have just moved on to his next victim, and nobody would have known."
The man in question then proceeded to ask her is she liked older men, but the messages did not stop there.
"He asked me how much I weighed and how tall I was, which I thought was really odd. Then he asked me if I would video chat and to go to another room to do that."
Alarmed by what she saw, the mom alerted police and took to Facebook to warn other parents.
But she says she has been getting some criticism for allowing her 8-year-old daughter to have a Facebook, although it is something she closely monitors.
"I understand she's young, and the only reason I have it and the only reason I have it is for her to reach out to cousins and family members who don't live in Florida, I actually have her messenger hooked to my phone."
The mom says her daughter's Facebook account has been deactivated for now.
"Keep a close eye on your kids; you never know, even if it wasn't Facebook, it could have been a family friend or just somebody you know."
The Cape Coral Police Department says this is an active investigation.
