NEW YORK, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- At the beginning of October, a 20-year-old Boston University student drove from Boston to Scarsdale, New York, to have a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl he met in a chat room on popular social networking site Facebook. The girl, who claimed she was 16 years old on the site, snuck out to meet James Bogush twice during the weekend. The second encounter resulted in Bogush, originally from Ridgewood, New Jersey, being charged with two misdemeanors: second-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor.

At the same time, Virginia State Police caught and arrested 46-year-old William Joe Mitchell, a convicted sex offender that lured a 15-year-old girl away from her family home in Bartow, Florida. The girl had been chatting with Mitchell, who pretended to be much younger than his real age of 46, through popular social-networking website, MySpace.com. She then told friends she was running off with Mitchell "for love." Alyssa was found two days later at a Wal-Mart, after turning herself in when she realized Mitchell had fled.

"These are two instances of unfortunate events that should be a huge red flare to parents: know what your children are doing online," states Pandora Corp. co-founder James Leasure. "With an overwhelming majority of teenagers on the net, bad things are bound to happen when there is no supervision."

The Technology Solution:

In response to investigations and inquiries by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Facebook is now taking steps to help keep their young users safe from those who would cause harm. While every step taken to protect kids is welcomed, Pandora Corp., makers of computer monitoring software PC Pandora, is reminding parents to not rely on the safeguarding of others and to get involved with their child's online life -- and take steps to protect them.

PC Pandora is a desktop application designed to allow parents and guardians the ability to monitor and control PC activity by children. In addition to basic filtering and blocking functions (that help to control access to material like pornography and music or video files), the program will keep an accurate record of all actions on the PC via screen capture. This enables parents to make sure no one is trying to solicit their kids online. It can also help stop cyberbullying and catch illegal downloading.

Leasure offers this advice: "The best solution is, of course, to talk to your kids and be involved in their online social life. But you can't be with them every time they are online. That's where software comes in as the most practical, and often most-effective, solution. We feel that PC Pandora is the best all-around protection you can get...not to mention the most accurate."

FREE Software For Schools:

In addition to servicing families' needs, PC Pandora is available free to schools and school districts across the country. Committed to keeping kids and families safe online, Pandora Corp. has offered to donate up to $100,000 worth of its monitoring software to schools and districts across the country through the PC Pandora's SAFE SCHOOLS program. So far, over $325,000 worth of software has been donated to 23 schools and districts across the US.

"We make PC Pandora available to schools," explains Leasure, "because we are aware that the need to protect kids doesn't lower as the budget diminishes. The bottom line is that it's up to all of us to help keep our kids and our communities safe. Using our software is a great place to start."

Interested school administrators should visit the SAFE SCHOOLS page on the web.

About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal -- to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in mid 2005, PC Pandora has been constantly upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. The company website devotes space to helping parents with 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and Pandora's Blog, where current news in the world of online safety is discussed regularly. PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position by boasting a combination of features that unparalleled in the monitoring industry. In addition, through the company's SAFE SCHOOLS program, schools and school districts can receive up to $100,000 worth of software to aid in protecting their students and their PCs. PC Pandora is also now available through the Pandora Corp. store at Amazon.com.

Reporters and Producers: Looking to cover this topic? We are your technology solution component. Software is available to journalists for review and testing. Staff members are always available for interviews. Let us help you show your audience how easy it can be to keep their kids safe. For More Information: Ken Shallcross: 401.965.2035 or ken@pcpandora.com

CONTACT: Ken Shallcross of PC Pandora, +1-401-965-2035,
ken@pcpandora.com