AOL chatroom monitor accused of seducing girl

The girl has now filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court. According to the lawsuit, the AOL employee, then 23 and working from an Oklahoma call centre, began the relationship when the girl was 15. The girl and the employee conducted a sexually charged relationship online that lasted nearly two years.

The two swapped explicit photographs and videos, had phone sex and made plans to meet for the first time to celebrate her 17th birthday. But before they could meet, another AOL worker grew suspicious and logged on to the defendant’s computer to find evidence of the relationship, the suit adds.

Graham said the employee was caught through ‘‘internal controls’’ but declined to elaborate. One advocate for abused children said she was ‘‘disappointed and saddened’’ that AOL had not prevented the incident or at least discovered it sooner.

The lawsuit accuses AOL, parent company Time Warner Inc. and the employee of inflicting emotional distress upon the girl. AOL and Time Warner are also accused of false advertising for saying the service was safe for children. ‘‘You’re looking at a situation where you have a wolf looking over the chicken coop,’’ said Olivier Taillieu, the girl’s Beverly Hills attorney.

The girl, now 19, waited two years before filing the suit because ‘‘it’s a very confusing and painful time for her,’’ her attorney added. They chatted often, using e-mail and AOL’s Instant Messenger, and later began talking on the phone, the suit contends. — LAT-WP

Jail, lash cellphone porn users: Saudi

RIYADH: Anyone using camera phones to distribute pornography may face up to 1,000 lashes, a 12-year jail term and a $26,670 fine under a proposed Saudi law, newspapers reported on Saturday. The proposed law comes after a Saudi court ordered up to 1,200 lashes each for three men who orchestrated and filmed the rape of a teenage girl with cellphones. — Reuters