In the online age where information is available at the click of a button, most parents have to contend with keeping their children safe from online bullying.
But there’s a darker side to the world wide web, a side that every so often rears its ugly head. Online sex predators prey on the young and vulnerable, often leading to dangerous consequences.
For this Florida mother, her worst nightmare became reality after learning that her daughter's image was stolen and turned into a child sex doll that was being sold legally on Amazon and other adult websites.
The mother, who asked to be identified only as Terri, was horrified when she came across pictures of an advert for a child sex doll that resembled her 8-year-old daughter, the Daily Mail reported.
She said the nightmare started when a friend sent her a message about a doll that looked too much like her daughter and was being sold on Amazon for $559 (about R9 500).
According to iheartintelligence.com, the item was listed as “high-quality sex dolly live dolls for men”.
The doll listed on the website bore an uncanny resemblance to a picture Terri had shared on Facebook of her daughter sitting on a couch.
The little girl, who suffers from CVID (Common Variable Immune Deficiency) is a child model and pageant contestant.
Her mother regularly posts photos of her little girl on a Facebook group where she shares updates on her daughter’s illness, community projects and modelling work.
“I read the message from my friend and saw the image, and I instantly started to cry uncontrollably,” she told the Child Rescue Coalition, an organisation in Boca Raton, Florida, working against child sex abuse and predators.
When interviewed by local news outlet WTVJ, she said finding the doll had left her deeply disturbed.
She urged Amazon to remove the ad from their website and it was taken down within days.
“I couldn't imagine that some sicko would use my daughter's photo to create something so ugly and evil to be used for abuse by paedophiles,” she said.