South Central Reporter

In a Jan. 28 Facebook post, Rep. Paul Jacobs warned his constituents of a potentially harmful social media app.

"An Illinois school has put out a warning to parents about a social media app that could potentially put students in dangerous situations with strangers," Jacobs said.

An Illinois school has put out a warning to parents about a social media app that could potentially put students in dangerous situations with strangers.

Paul Jacobs was first elected to the Illinois House in 2020. A Republican, their legislative experience includes serving on the Tourism Committee and Higher Education.

In his Facebook post, Rep. Jacobs shared a link to an NBC story on the warning that Mokenna Junior High School administrators issued to parents last week, and NBC Chicago shared part of the school's statement.

"Omegle does not appear to have powerful moderation," Dr. Mike Rolinitis, the school's principal, wrote in a letter to parents. "It also does not require registration or have age verification, which makes young people a potential target for abuse online."

However, child predators have used Omegle among other applications to target and sexually exploit minors.

In December, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Indiana announced that an Illinois man, Kyle Peterson was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor. In this case, the victim was a 12-year-old girl, and the news release explains he used Omegle and Snapchat to do it.

These activities started on March 20, 2020, and the announcement says that Peterson knew the victim was a child when he began sending sexually explicit videos and pictures, before engaging in video chats that were sexually explicit and directing her to send explicit videos of herself. He then threatened the child when she stopped complying.

U.S. Chief District Judge, Tanya Walton Pratt imposed a 22-year prison sentence, as well as 20 years of supervision by the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years following his release from federal prison. Peterson must also pay $16,000 in restitution to the child victims and register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works or goes to school, as the law requires.