Man in trial after convincing teen to meet up for sex through WoW
Another online crime is on the table, as 26-year old Daniel Lenz from Florida is charged of enticing a 15-year old girl from Windham to run away from home and meet up with him for sex.
The two met in the realms of World of Warcraft where they were part of the same Guild. Lenz wanted to visit the girl, but her parents did not allow any contact. He then asked Jason Dowling, a friend, to pick up the teenage girl after she sneaked out of home when her mother wasn’t around.
Authorities, together with game distributors, quickly tracked Lenz’s identity through his WoW account and eventually got a hold of Dowling’s mobile phone number. The girl and her escort were already in Manning when their location was nailed.
Deputies raided Lenz’s apartment the day after to search for the girl, but he was arrested for gun possession instead. Lenz also has a long list of crimes under his name, including sexual contact with a child, fraud and burglary.
The mother admitted in court that she allowed her daughter to play WoW, but strongly prohibited the teenager from meeting up with Lenz. “I said they could communicate, but he couldn’t come up and they couldn’t exchange information,” she testified.
It turns out that the girl is home-schooled and is suffering from a social anxiety disorder, but playing World of Warcraft made her happier. In Lenz’s defense, his lawyer gathered from the mother herself that the girl may have committed suicide if she was forbidden to play Blizzard‘s WoW.
“She said it was the only thing that gave her pleasure. She said she might as well kill herself if we took (the game) away,” said her mother.
Another online crime is on the table, as 26-year old Daniel Lenz from Florida is charged of enticing a 15-year old girl from Windham to run away from home and meet up with him for sex.
The two met in the realms of World of Warcraft where they were part of the same Guild. Lenz wanted to visit the girl, but her parents did not allow any contact. He then asked Jason Dowling, a friend, to pick up the teenage girl after she sneaked out of home when her mother wasn’t around.
Authorities, together with game distributors, quickly tracked Lenz’s identity through his WoW account and eventually got a hold of Dowling’s mobile phone number. The girl and her escort were already in Manning when their location was nailed.
Deputies raided Lenz’s apartment the day after to search for the girl, but he was arrested for gun possession instead. Lenz also has a long list of crimes under his name, including sexual contact with a child, fraud and burglary.
The mother admitted in court that she allowed her daughter to play WoW, but strongly prohibited the teenager from meeting up with Lenz. “I said they could communicate, but he couldn’t come up and they couldn’t exchange information,” she testified.
It turns out that the girl is home-schooled and is suffering from a social anxiety disorder, but playing World of Warcraft made her happier. In Lenz’s defense, his lawyer gathered from the mother herself that the girl may have committed suicide if she was forbidden to play Blizzard‘s WoW.
“She said it was the only thing that gave her pleasure. She said she might as well kill herself if we took (the game) away,” said her mother.