When i was posing as a child, ive had a predator within 30 minutes sending me pornography, talking about meeting, trying to set up a time to meet to have sex. The internet helps the world stay connected. But the digital universe also has a dark side. Just this year alone local investigators have arrested 2 men who allegedly abducted teenager girls they met online. Most recently `13yearold Nicole Lovell was stabbed to death by a man friends say she met on the internet. There is a local Law Enforcement agency that strictly focuses on cyber crimes against childrenas wfxrs Sophia Borrelli reports the group is trying to keep more kids from becoming targets and investigators say it starts with parents 1 432 23 2 343 24 3 29 nat of phone message going off in this day and age, kids and teens can communicate with anyone in the world, but unfortunately some say that is not always a good thing. Laura lathem mother of 11 year old boy mindboggling. Laura lathem is the mother of an 11 year old boy. She was shocked at some of the statistics i was able to give her about kids on social media. Her son is starting to get curious about joining that social world. Laura latham mother of 11 year old boy he asks frequently, when can i be on facebook, when can i be on facebook, and i keep saying 13. So the other day he said, when im on facebook, im not going to let you have the user name and password, and i said, then you cant be on facebook. Steven anders who works with the internet crimes against children taskforce says parents need to have access to their teens passwords to social media sites. Steven anders icac social media and the apps basically is allowing a virtual front door to your house to be open to anybody in the world that wants to contact your children. As parents, we wouldnt leave the front door to our house open wide open. If you as a parent still dont think its an issue in our area, just look at the facts. Steven says, one in seven teens will be sexually solicited online and says the average age a child is exposed to pornography is 8 against children taskforce under the direction of the Bedford CountySheriffs Office works more than 100 cases a month. Steven that does not include the cases that are generated and reported directly to the other Law Enforcement agencies here in the commonwealth of virginia. Laura latham mother of 11 year old boy yes it is making me speechless. Standup Law Enforcement says kids and teens need to be aware of what they are posting online without even speaking to someone. For example, this is a picture that i posted in my high school days. You can see my friend has our High School Logo on her sweatshirt. And steven says a predator can find out where i live just from this picture. Steven i as a predator can look at that and say ok i know what school she goes to, i know shes a cheerleader and i know cheerleaders hang out at Football Games on friday night. When the game is over, i follow her home. Stoping these online predators is a struggle parents will be dealing with every day, but two things can help relationship with your child and education. Safe surfing is a program that helps to educate children and adults about safe online activity. They have age appropriate training for as young as kindergarten. Robin sundquist Deputy Director of Safe Surfin Foundation you have to teach children at an early age that if you dont know that person, if you can not physically know where that person is or touch that person, thats a stranger. Forensic investigator for years. Robin just ripped my heart out what you see is horrible and if these people, can do such things to such innocent children, then i feel like im doing the best i can, this is my chance to try and help try and save somebody. She says parents can get parental control software, but they shouldnt stop at that. Robin even if you get some type of Monitoring Software, to track what your kids are doing online, a lot of times they know how to circumvent that. So dont think Monitoring Software is a Silver Bullet because it isnt. That is where lisa mcdowell, who has been counseling teens for years, comes in to help parents talk about online safety. Lisa mcdowell working as a counselor with adolescence about 60 percent of the kids we see or the teenagers we see, you know social media or technology is an issue of some sort. To resolve that issue, she says a strong relationship with your child is key. Lisa that relationship, that parent child relationship has got to be strong in order for anything to be successful. As a parent, laura knows how important it is to have that relationship. Laura latham mother of 11 year old boy he and i are very close, its been a little hard since hes starting to hit puberty to have those conversations. But she knows having those conversations is better than sophia, why did sophia, why did sophia, why did you decide to do this story . I covered a story before was hearing all for more information about how to talk with your teen about their online activity, you can head to our website at virginiafirst. Com. Were also keeping an eye on some colder temperatures tonight which is bad news for the dozens of homes and businesses still without power and a number of schools as you can see at the bottom of your screen are on a 2 hour delay tomorrow. The ice storm yesterday caused some fallen trees. We found mason mill road closed. You can see a number of branches all over the road. Thousands of people will be without power for the a second night because of this weeks storm. Trees were covered with a half an inch of ice the heavy ice took down trees and powerlines leaving more than 45 thousand homes and businesses in the dark. Tonight around 3 thousand customers are still without service. More than 600 workers are helping to restore power. Appalachian power Officials Say in franklin and roanoke counties, including the city of roanoke, customers are expected to have power by late tomorrow night. The potential for black ice. Chief meteorologist john carroll is here now and john will this have an impact on tomorrows commute . Overnight. Mostly cloudy this evening. Then clearing. Lows inthe mid 20s. Northwest winds around 10 mph with gusts up to25 mph. Thursday. Sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds around10 mph in the morning. Becoming in Bedford Countya fire destroyed a home early this morning and now investigators are searching for an official cause. That fire started at a home in the 1 thousand block of shepherds store road around 4 am. Fire Officials Say the fire started in the garage and quickly spread to through the house. A neighbor tells wfxr news the family was awake when the fire broke out and luckily there was a fire wall between the garage and house giving the family enough time to get out. In roanoke 7 people were forced from a home last night after an attic fire. Officials say it happened in the 16 hundred block of chapman avenue and found smoke showing from the roof when they got there. The American Red Cross is helping the people who lived there damage is estimated at 12 thousand dollars. A 18 month old baby was found along side of a West Virginia road in freezing cold water. With child neglect. Investigators say luckily the baby was found before it died from exposure to the cold. 13182834 the disturbing 911 call had officers with the ronceverte West VirginiaPolice Department rushing to save a baby baby left out in the cold in 3 inches of water near corner of greenbrier and pocohontas avenue. Julian byer when we got there, we were able to put the child actually in one of our coats and put it in the car in some heat until ems arrived on scene. Police say the child lived with a couple in a house at that intersection. Neighbors were horrified. Brantlee elwell i hate to hear that. Its very scary, its scary having little children and trying to keep your house secure and sometimes thats hard to do. Im sure its devastating for the family. Brantlee elwell lives just down the road from where the child was found. She is also the mother of four children. She says incidents like this is something she says many parents fear. Brantlee elwell its something ive been afraid of before and weve had to take safety measures. Each kid is different. Some kids are quite tricky and resourceful and can do things pretty early on in age. She says that accidents happen all the time. Shes hoping this was an accident as well. Sotbrantlee elwell i like to think most people try to care for their children Child Protective Services is investigating. They have removed a second child from the suspects home. Taking preventative measures. Coming up next fire officials explain how you can keep your family safe with a simple addition to your home. Andtwo planned parenthood locations will combine under one roof. Leaders say it will allow them better serve the community. Coming up at 10 30 how the changes will effect. Overnight. Mostly cloudy this evening. Then clearing. Lows inthe mid 20s. Northwest winds around 10 mph with gusts up to25 mph. Thursday. Sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds around10 mph in the morning. Becoming light and variable. Thursday night. Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s. Light andvariable winds. Friday. Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. Light andvariable winds. Becoming south around 10 mph in the afternoon. Friday night. Partly cloudy. Not as cool with lows in the mid30s. Southeast winds around 10 mph. Becoming southwest with gusts up to 20 mph after sunday night. Mostly cloudy. Highs around 60. Lows in the upper 30s. Monday. Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain. Highsin the lower 50 night. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain. Lows in the mid 30s. Tuesday. Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain. Highs in thelower 40s. Tuesday night. Rain likely. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of rain60 its Fire Prevention week. And in roanoke emergancy responders are reminding people that installing smoke detectors in your home can save a life. Wfxrs Charlie Cooper spoke to the Fire Department and the red cross about how theyre helping the Community Take preventative measures to protect their families from fire. 5102127100106 nat sound of smoke alarmits a modest investment that can save your familys life. Kim krulikowski red cross, Disaster Program specialista lot of people either dont have smoke alarms or even worse they have smoke alarms that they think work but actually dont. They are teaming up with roanoke fire ems to install smoke alarms in as many homes as possible. Charlie cooper, reportingafter facing some fatal fires in southeast roanoke last year, roanoke fire ems installed 66 of these smoke detectors in that area alone. Kim krulikowski red cross, Disaster Program specialistwe offer these alarms to anybody, whether they rent or own. Whether theyre in a Single Family home, a modular home or an apartment. She recommends that people replace their fire alarms after five years and basement but there are some places to avoid. Kim krulikowski red cross, Disaster Program specialistin the kitchen, bathroom, near fire places, anywhere youre likely to get a false alarm. Nat sound alarmwhen it comes to picking the right alarm, roanoke fire ems says it depends on what works best in your home. Tiffany bradbury Fire Prevention specialist roanoke fire emsthey have some that even if one goes off theyre all going to go off which is great. Theres some that are hard wired into the home and have battery backups so you really need to look at what works best. The next step is to have a good plan to get out. In roanoke, Charlie Cooper wfxr news. The Fire Department and the red cross also have smoke detectors that can alert the deaf or hard of hearing if a fire breaks out in their home. To request a free fire alarm and installation we have details on our website virginia first dot com. Coming up theres more to making the perfect steak than you think. How one farmer says he gets perfect meat plus one farm gives chickens a whole new level of freedom. We will show you the free productive cows according to one farmer who lets his herd roam free. Wfxrs solina lewis leads to a tasty outcome. 1216 these are some of the steaks we do the grass fed beef, this is a t bonewhat jack furhmann says is special about his t bones though, is that he makes sure his cattle feel as at home as possible. So in the grass growing season were moving them two times a day to fresh grassby moving them around his hundred plus acre farm, he says the animals are healthier. Theyre not always around their feces where theres parasites and things. And happier. Another thing we do is we let the calves stay with their moms for ten months because of these special conditions, he says the cows are more productive. They produce more milk and put on more meat we try to mimic nature because cows never stay in one spotand, ultimately, our fathers farm also give Free Range Chicken a new meaning. The two flocks Wander Around the large property, guarded by a dog. Furhmann says the eggs the animals produce are a more nutritious and tastier product because of their lifestyle on the farm. These animals are out in the nature in the sunshine running jumping and a healthier animal produces a healthier product if its eggs dairy and meat its just a healthier happier animalfuhrmann has his 9 kids help wash and package the eggs, taking them to farmers markets in lynchburg when theyre ready. For these ag life stories and others head to virginia first dot com and click on the ag life tab. Coming upmore officers for Department Says its needed, and why it wont cost taxpayers. Andwere just 13 days away from the virginia primaryhow candidates are trying to win locations are moving under one roof. The roanoke and blacksburg planned parenthood facilities are consolidating their efforts. The blacksburg location will now be used for Community Education and advocacy work. Patients will be treated at the roanoke location. A representative told us that theyre making change to better serve more patients. The blacksburg location opened more than 30 years ago when there werent many locations that provided Womens Health services. The Lynchburg City School board approved an update to the grade point average calculations for High School Credit courses during a meeting last night. Currently students can earn a higher g pa by taking upper level classes causing students to forgo electives. The new strategy is meant to limit the number of upper level courses students can factor in to earning a higher gpa. The change goes into effect next school year starting with those entering tenth grade. In danville the Police Department is beefing up its force. Wfxrs Kristen Eskow say adding more staff wont come out of the taxpayers pocket. 00053035 the Danville City Council has approved the addition of four new officers to the danville Police Department and Officials Say more officers can always help fight crime. Right now the police force is budgeted to have 131 officers but only has 125 on staff due to a high level of turnover as some officers leave the department. Now the Police Department can have up to 135 officers on staff. Officials say after several city jobs were cut several years ago due to budgeting issues, this addition of officers comes as welcome news. Double the amount of officers would be great. Of course thats not going to happen, so any addition would be good. Any additional officer we can get patrolling would be better. More eyes out there. Officials say the added positions will be paid for with the Police Departments personnel fund. That fund collects money from Unfilled Positions in the Police Department that would have been used to pay those employees. Officials say right now that fund has about 300,000. The danville Police Department says it will decide how to use the new officer positions and when they will be filled at a later time. In danville, Kristen Eskow, ters. So far in the 2016 race for the white house, weve heard from the candidates, past president s and celebrities. Now, you can add lawyers to the growing list. As joel waldman reports donald trump and ted cruz are in a legal fight over a campaign ad. 27 34 42 59 1 19 1 21 would President Trump ban partial birth abortions . Trump says well, look, im very pro choice. Ted cruz defending his campaigns new 30second spot. Highlighting Donald Trumps past comments on abortion. The commercial, airing in South Carolina in the wake of Supreme Court justice antonin scalias death, stresses the importance of the president s next appointee to the high court. The ad ends with the narrator saying trump cannot be trusted with these serious decisions. Cruz says if you want to file a lawsuit challenging this ad. Claiming it is defamation, file the