Police Say Online Predator Targeted Teenage Boys

Pocono Township, Monroe County - You've probably heard you need to watch out for predators targeting teenage girls online, but police now say teenage boys are also being victimized.

This week police in Monoe County arrested a man who they say was targeting teenage boys on Facebook. Charles Zangenbert Junior is a 45 year old from Tannersville.

Detective Brian Webbe helped catch him. Webbe patrols the streets of the World Wide Web posing as teenagers to catch child predators online. It's especially important to him because he has teenage children of his own. He said, "Someone has to do this type of work and get these guys off the street.

Webbe said he caught Zangenberg trolling for victims on Facebook. He would allegedly do it from his home computer in Tannersville. Police say Zangenberg would friend the boys on Facebook then ask to meet them for sexual encounters."He would just go online and start chatting with random teenage boys," said Webbe.

Police Zangenbert arranged to meet what he thought was a teenage boy at an ice cream shop in Stroudsburg. He planned to have an encounter but when he arrived, police arrested him.

Officers say you can help protect your kids from predators. Webbe explained, "Just to be involved in your children's online life just like you are in real life. The dangers that exist in the real world are the same dangers that exist online."

Angel Bernard of Stroudsburg said when he was a young teen he may have tried to keep his parents out of his online activities. He said, "A lot of times the younger kids aren't going to be really open with that and come right to you about it."

Detective Webbe said you should friend your child on social networking sites. It's also important to talk to them about only allowing their real life friends to be their online friends. Additionally, make sure you know their paswords and check their messages. They may complain about their privacy, but he said their safety is more important.