A 14-year old girl from New Jersey was sexually assaulted by a 29-year old man who was stalking her on Facebook. Michael Sebastian posed as a 17-year old on the social networking site and befriended the teenage girl. Their chats quickly became sexual in nature, and soon Sebastian asked to meet up with the victim.

The girl refused to meet up with him, but Sebastian found her nonetheless. She posted a status update on Facebook saying that she would be going to a certain store in Springfield. Sebastian lay in wait for her there and upon seeing her, lured her into his car. It was there that the sexual assault took place.

As police officials investigated that case, they shed light on yet another incident which involved Sebastian sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl. He used the same tactics that he did with the previous girl. He befriended her on Facebook first, engaged in heavy flirting, and eventually asked to meet up with her. The difference is that this one actually agreed. He picked her up at her house and brought her to a motel where he got her drunk before sexually assaulting her. The girl managed to escape. She immediately looked for a restaurant where she could call home and ask a family member to pick her up.

Sebastian has now been laden with several charges including second-degree sexual assault, second-degree luring, third degree endangering the welfare of a minor, and also fourth degree criminal sexual contact.

The case is but one of many similar cases wherein the perpetrator used Facebook to reach his victim. The site can be very dangerous for minors, especially when unsupervised. Take this case for example, the girl had said no but a simple status update revealing her destination was enough to put her in harm’s way.