Life Online

The Internet has provided seemingly unlimited opportunities to connect with people. Whether it be friends from high school, summer camp, that cousin that lives on the other side of the country, complete strangers with similar interests, and potential love interests.

I certainly hopped on the social media train when MySpace came out at 15 years old. I even met a high school boyfriend through the site. Admittedly through social media and random chat rooms, I wasn’t always safe. Thankfully nothing terrible ever happened.

Later in life, I built a wonderful circle of internet buddies on Twitter. They’ve had my back multiple times and it always feels like a safe place to vent since there is that distance.

Stalker in a Dark Alley
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Things haven’t always been great though. I have had a couple of strangers that definitely took things too far. I had someone tell me over and over ahead that he wanted to hop on a plane and meet me. I’ve had people send me sexually explicit messages that made me uncomfortable to the point I privated all my social media pages until I felt safe again. Add on top of that that I’m a public figure and that adds a new layer of feeling unsafe. It’s part of the job but can be incredibly unsettling at times.

A story in New Hampshire recently caught my eye because creeps are definitely out there.

Attic Creep

The Associated Press recently reported that a man from Pennsylvania journeyed to New Hampshire to meet a woman he knew from the Internet.

It’s not clear how he knew where to find her but this individual, Mauricio Damian Guerrero found her home, stole her house key, made a duplicate hid in her attic, took photos of her sleeping, stole her underwear, and attempted to track her vehicle with a tracking device.

Terrifying, right?

The Associated Press also reported that he is facing 2 Class A felony counts of nighttime burglary and 2 Class B felony counts of daytime burglary. That just doesn’t sit right with me. He’s out on bail. This creep is out in the world with the mindset that women are a commodity. That he’s entitled to them. Again, it’s terrifying.

So, what’s the solution? I wish I knew. This story is a sobering reminder that you just never know who is out there, who might have your personal information, who out there thinks they are entitled to you under the delusion of love or simple obsession.

Stay safe out there.

-B

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