Police Warn About Potential Child Luring in the Area

A blue vehicle, possible a Ford Fusion, has been seen in two separate incidents involving an adult potentially luring young teenage girls.

According to authorities both incidents occured Wednesday. In Morristown, a 13-year-old girl was waiting for her morning school bus when a stranger motioned for her to get into his vehicle. In Florham Park, later that afternoon a 14-year-old was walking home from her school bus stop when a stranger began slowly following her in his car. Neither girl was hurt in the incident.

Police are still investigating and are urging parents to talk to their kids about luring and how to identify it. The public is asked to report any luring activity to police at 908-273-0051.

The following is the police description of the luring events from a statement by Summit Police:

Morristown - on 11/30/11 at 7:20 am, a 13 year old female saw a vehicle (described same as above) pass her while she was waiting for her school bus. The driver motioned for her to get into his vehicle and then he left the area when she ran off. Suspect was described as a white male, late 40's to 50's, wearing a dark colored jacket, a black cap. 

Florham Park - on 11/30/11 at 2:45 pm a blue vehicle, possibly a Ford Fusion drove slowly behind a 14-year-old girl female walking home from the school bus drop off area. The driver left the area when she proceeded to turn into her driveway. No description of driver and or occupants was given.

According to the study "Child Lures Prevention Program: Development of a Program Specific Assessment Instrument and Evaluation of Program Effectiveness," luring is defined as "child victimization." Below are descriptions of various types of "lures" in the study written by Carrie Campbell Bishop and Rebecca Robles Pina, published by Sam Houston State University. (More information is available at www.childluresprevention.com)

"A lure is anything that attracts or entices a child into going with either a known or unknown person. There are several specific types of lures. The affection lure is when a child is abused by someone they know such as an aunt, uncle, step parent,or even a family friend. The assistance lure is where a child is asked by the abductor to helphim/her with directions to any given establishment and then asking the child to come along oreven pull the child into the car unwillingly.

The pet lure has been the most common especiallywith young children. This particular lure is when the child is asked to assist in finding a lost pet by having the child look at a picture of the pet or even follow the abductor while attempting tolocate the pet. The bribery lure is where the child is offered money or other material items thatchildren young and old find appealing. The authority lure is one that may be problematical forchild to discern because they are taught to obey those in uniform, carrying a badge, or evenperson who is highly respected either in the family or community.

The ego/fame lure is one thatdeems the most attraction to older children with the assurance that fame and fortune will bebestowed upon them if they agree to go with that person to a disclosed location without parentalpermission. The fun and games lure can start out as innocent play, but can lead to touchinginappropriate places or putting the child in a compromising position. The emergency lure is where a stranger or even someone they might know asserts that a loved one has been in a terrible accident and child must leave immediately with him/her per the permission/request of the child’s parents. The hero lure is when someone the child highly admires takes advantage of the child.

The name recognition lure is where the child either has his/her name on something they arecarrying/wearing or when the abductor hears the child’s name mentioned while ease dropping ona conversation the child is having with a friend. The job lure is one that promises money forassistance or to perform a chore. This lure can place the child in a situation that is unsafe leadingto any form of abuse. The pornography lure is used as a way to capture the child’s attention leading up to sexual abuse.

The playmate/companion lure is where the abuser requests a child to bring along a friend. The threats and weapons lure is the most aggressive form of abduction by threatening the child’s life by means of physical force that may include weapons or restraint. The most easily accessible lure that can be done without the child even actually seeing the abductorinitially is the computer on-line lure. This lure has increasingly become popular by abductors dueto the ease of accessibility to the Internet including emails, chat rooms, and instant messaging.

The abductor works to get the child to reveal his/her full name, address, and etc and then arrangesa meeting place. The drug lure is one where children may knowingly accept an offer for drugs oreven be deceived into taking drugs that renders them helpless from abuse.

The lure of hate and violence can be accomplished through not only adults but also other children. This precise lure is one that intimidates and leaves a child feeling petrified and vulnerable. This lure can prey on children based on simple effects such as hair color and what type of clothing a child wears, and may include race, religion, cultural background, sexual orientation, etc. There are times that many abductors will use a combination of lures to entice a child...