Girl, 11, sexually abused after adding strangers on Snapchat to win challenge
An innocent childhood challenge took a tragic turn when an 11-year-old Australian girl, eager to boost her Snapchat score in a friendly rivalry with her best friend, added several strangers to her account. One of the 'Quick Adds' went on to sexually abuse her, reported The Guardian.
In 2023, the girl and her friend were trying to reach a 'Snap score' of 1,00,000 points when she befriended then-23-year-old Jai Clapp. He claimed to be 17 years of age. The man sexually abused 'April' (a pseudonym used in The Guardian's report) during three separate encounters at a local park in her hometown.
The 'Snap score' is a number on Snapchat that shows how active someone is. You can increase it by sending and receiving photos or videos (called snaps), and adding more people to your friend list. 'April' added the man on Snapchat using the 'Quick add' feature in the app that suggests users you could add based on the app algorithm.
After being added, Clapp began grooming the girl over a period of 12 days. He was later convicted of multiple offences, including 'digital' and 'penile penetration'.
The 23-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced for the abuse of April and another girl for eight years and 10 months in prison. With a non-parole period of four years and eight months.
Details of the case were outlined in a Victorian County Court sentencing, accessed by The Guardian.
Australia has passed landmark legislation that will ban children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms, making it the strictest law of its kind globally, reported news agency AP.
TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter) will be held accountable for systemic failures to block underage users.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the law aims to protect children from the "harms" of social media, a concern widely shared by parent advocacy groups.
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