Web predator's new victims

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An Auckland woman has been revealed as the internet predator grooming Christchurch boys for sex - and police fear she has spread her net much wider.

Police say the 28-year-old woman has used several fake online profiles - depicting a younger and more attractive woman - to befriend unsuspecting high school boys.

One boy arranged to fly to Auckland to comfort her after she falsely claimed to have tried to kill herself.

Senior Sergeant John Robinson said five to 10 boys had come forward by Friday, but that was likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

Several more complainants had contacted police after Christchurch media reports, and he expected more to come forward from around New Zealand.

Many of the complainants attended St Thomas of Canterbury College.

Christine O'Brien, principal of the Catholic school, told The Press that at least 30 more boys from her school had been sucked in by the woman, who posed as a teenager aged around 16.

O'Brien had seen a proper picture of the woman and was far from complimentary.

"She looks completely different," she said. "The boys were shocked. She is not an attractive young lady, let's just say that."

O'Brien said the students were naive and trusting, and had been shocked when she'd turned nasty.

"She sets up different scenarios and causes real grief for the parents," O'Brien said. "They get taken in and caught up in it. When they try to extricate themselves she threatens that someone will come round and burn their house down. It is quite frightening."

In one case, the Auckland woman told a 16-year-old boy, Ryan, that she was an Epsom Girls Grammar student called Rebecca Marie. She topped up his phone with $40 and sent photos of expensive cars she said were hers.

She told another boy her name was Abby, and asked for his bank details to transfer money.

For a third boy, she put $30 in his account and changed her status to say she was going out with him. "It was weird," the boy said.

Robinson, who co-ordinates Christchurch police youth services, said families had been shocked by how much information the woman had been able to get out of the boys.

"It sounds absolutely terrible on the face of it. There's no doubt at all her intentions were really, really dodgy," he said.

Although he strongly suspected her of grooming the boys, at this point they were still gathering evidence.

She was known to police and lived in Auckland, but they were yet to speak to her about her on-line behaviour.

Although the boys had been "absolutely sucked in by looking at a pretty photo", Robinson said simply using a fake photo and talking about sex online weren't criminal offences.

He said to charge someone with grooming, the person had to have travelled for the purpose of having sex.

At one time she'd promised to go to Christchurch and meet the boys. She didn't turn up, instead sending a message to say she had attempted suicide.

One of the boys was so worried about her that he arranged to fly to Auckland with his sister - but when none of the Auckland hospitals had heard of her, they became suspicious.

Robinson described the whole situation as "cruel".

How to beat groomers

Internet groomers are more than the bogeymen of childhood nightmares.

They really are lurking out there, says Netsafe executive director Martin Cocker, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your children.

Many parents who were on the lookout for predators targeting smaller children or girls might be shocked to hear of a 28-year-old woman grooming boys, he said.

A typical groomer used a fake profile to develop an emotional online relationship with the victim, pushing the idea that he or she had more understanding of the victim than anybody else.

The message was: "I understand you. Your parents don't understand you and your teachers don't understand you."

Cocker said there were several keys to guarding against groomers.

"If you've never met a person and your friends can't vouch for their existence, it's wise to assume that they are fictional."

He said it was important to be wary at all times, especially on social networks.

Cocker said parents needed to truthfully warn their children of potential risks and grooming methods. "Be honest with them," even if they were quite young.

Groomers can be reported at www.theorb.org.nz, a portal linked to the police.

Who is this woman

Here are some of her aliases:

* Jordz Williams

* Laura Jane West

* Becca Maria Jullienne

* Abby Jane Zoe William

* Rebecca Marie

She has claimed to be a student at Epsom Girls Grammar, and a student teacher. In fact, police say she is 28 and lives in the Auckland area.