No one, particularly children, enjoys having others inspect their belongings. However, one father in Michigan saved his daughter’s life after discovering what she was up to by browsing through her iPad. Scott Jenkins of Portage, Michigan, wrote on his blog in October 2017 about how he saved his oldest daughter’s life five years ago by checking on her iPad when she began acting secretive and devious.

All of this began when she met a 15-year-old boy named Bruce on Instagram. “I would grab her tablet after she went to sleep and start digging through her messages, pictures, and seeing if things looked appropriate,” Jenkins explained. When he discovered “an unusual time gap in some messages and images,” he didn’t think much about it for two weeks.

“I had a strange sensation one night and grabbed her tablet to perform what I assumed would be a routine check… “What I discovered still haunts my mind and makes my heart sink,” he wrote. Jenkins discovered a scandalous photo, prompting him to search through his daughter’s social media accounts. Jenkins began looking for some of the friends in Bruce’s network of friends and was outraged to realize that they were all adult men.

He decided to seek assistance from the police. After seven months of combing through all of the family’s digital gadgets, detectives from the Portage Police Department’s Cyber Task Force advised Jenkins to bring his entire family to the police station “as soon as possible.” Jenkins was notified at the station that he had saved his daughter from kidnapping.

To be more specific, the guys were using Bruce “as a scout” to bring “young girls into his circle as prey for the men to pick and choose from.” Jenkins also realized he was on the verge of losing his daughter when she told him she was preparing to meet up with her “friends.” Jenkins believed that by sharing his personal tale, other parents would become more concerned about what their children were doing.

“I hope this instills fear in each and every one of you,” he added. “Look into your children’s accounts, ask them questions, and tell them not to make “friends” with people they don’t know.” I had no idea how close I was to never seeing my kid again; it’s worth your child’s upset and broken sentiments to keep them safe.”

It simply goes to show how important it is for every parent to educate their children about the perils of the internet. Now is the time to share this news with your network!