Attack of the SexBox!!!! and It Came From Your Console!!!!

You know (sound of an attempt at a ratings hike).

that a reporter is desperate (sound of a clueless editor assigning a bad story)

to make something into a story (sound of someone taking a long lunch instead of researching video game consoles)

when a TV station (sound of a “reporter” quoting the “FBI” without really talking to them)

has to break a single sentence up (sound of someone failing to note that all consoles have robust parental controls)

with five sound bytes. (sound of someone not realizing the Wii doesn’t really even have online chat.)

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Today’s reporting assignment for Heidi Hemmat:

Get the number of cases that involve predators and game consoles to back up the FBI’s claim that it is the “fastest growing crime.” Compare instances nationwide in 2009 where a child was approached by a possible pedophile through a video game console and all other manners of approach. What’s the break down?

Explain to parents freaked out by sloppy reporting how they can protect their children from online predators, by explaining exactly how the parental restrictions built into all three consoles work.

Get a copy of the police report for Erica McWhorter’s run-in. What was the outcome? Which city did it happen in? Which county did it happen in? Was a police report even filed?

Talk to the cybercrime’s unit of the law enforcement agency handling the case to see where it stands. Is this happening a lot in whatever city the incident occurred in?

Track down Xbox 360 user “Romantic Devil” and find out a bit about them. (Like he’s a guy living in New York City who is still using his Xbox Live account as of this morning.)

Microsoft say they blocked Romantic Devil, but he’s still using his account. Did they also report him to the police? If so, what happened? If not, why not?

Sexual predators exploit Xbox [Denver’s KDVR]