My nephew is pretty smart

I got this email this morning from my sister Staci in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. If you have children, make sure to read this with them and keep an eye out for your neighbor.

My apologies for the long email. It is not spam, this actually happened today after school. We need to keep our kids safe and informed of how to react in challenging situations. I intentionally left out the name of which child of mine this happened to--I encourage you to forward this email for awareness. As my son was walking the 2 mile trek from the bus stop to our home in Grassy Creek, Mount Pleasant (SC), a man in an ice cream truck stopped next to where he was walking. The man asked my son if he would like a ride home, and my son responded 'No'. The man insisted again that he could just drive him home. A neighbor, who noticed my son's body language as she was driving by, thought that my son appeared to look uncomfortable, so she pulled behind the white van and asked if he was okay. My son responded 'No' and took the opportunity to pretend that the neighbor was his mother, by calling 'Mom' and telling her that he was going to buy some ice cream. The man offered, again, to give my son a ride home. My son purchased an ice cream and the went safely to the neighbor's car. The neighbor had dialed 911 immediately, knowing that our neighborhood had single entry, was the only neighborhood along the frontage road, and that the covenants restricted any solicitation. The ice cream truck should have never been there in the first place. The truck had only been seen in the neighborhood one time. It happened to be the Saturday prior -- as far as we know, not before then (as it is not allowed). The police stopped the man inside the neighborhood. He was a 21 year old student, Russian male, living in a hotel in North Charleston. His work visa cleared okay, as well as his driver's license (that was issued in Spartanburg), and the tags for the van (that were issued in North Carolina). Two weeks prior, the truck had been on Sullivan's Island soliciting ice cream without a business permit. The business permit he provided was valid, having been issued immediately following the incident on Sullivan's Island. The man's story coincided exactly with my son's. The ice cream driver admitted offering a ride, but implied that, due to his Russian heritage, it was customary to offer a ride to those who were walking. The man was not arrested. The result of this incident was the issuance of a 'No Trespassing Order' for the Town of Mount Pleasant and a police escort over the bridge, as elicitation is not illegal in this state. He did not forcefully try to get my son in the van, thankfully. However, this particular white ice cream "van" is no longer allowed to sell in Mount Pleasant anymore. The police have requested that we call 911 immediately--just to be safe. The conversion type van had the traditional right side window with pictures of ice cream, but the height was modified, appearing to have a topper. This may have just been a misunderstanding due to cultural differences (and poor judgement) or the prevention of a more severe situation from occurring. My family plans to continue to address this situation. For those of you who live in the same safe neighborhood as I do (or nearby) you will probably find this whole thing as disturbing as I have. I am very proud of my son for taking all the right steps. He was immediately cautious of the predatory behavior, he accepted assistance when it was available, knowing the situation was not quite right. I am also very thankful for the conscientiousness of my neighbor, who didn't think twice about missing a business appointment to address her gut feeling. Safest wishes, Staci

John, why have you been driving your van in SC?

Seriously though, good for the kid!

Yeah good for the kid and sad for humanity. Maybe the guy was just trying to give the kid a ride and was clueless as to our customs? Seems like the guy was a hard worker trying to make a buck, he seemed to follow the rules once he knew them.

The kid was smart and did the right thing, but to paint this as an averted abduction or molestation is jumping to some big conclusions. ( Maybe correctly, maybe incorrectly - I do not know).

Next will be a lwa suit and maybe a gated access for the "safe" neighborhood. This story makes me sad.

TJ wrote: Yeah good for the kid and sad for humanity. Maybe the guy was just trying to give the kid a ride and was clueless as to our customs? Seems like the guy was a hard worker trying to make a buck, he seemed to follow the rules once he knew them. The kid was smart and did the right thing, but to paint this as an averted abduction or molestation is jumping to some big conclusions. ( Maybe correctly, maybe incorrectly - I do not know). Next will be a lwa suit and maybe a gated access for the "safe" neighborhood. This story makes me sad.

+1

stranger danger... good kid it sounds like :) I worry about my kids sometimes... they are WAY to friendly... everyone they meet they just talk and talk to...

Well, you know that everyone's a child molester these days, what with the state of the world and all...

Except that in reality, things aren't much different than they ever were, and if anything children are safer now on the streets alone than they've ever been. Of course, none of them are allowed out of the house anymore, but hey, you gotta keep em safe. Nevermind that their home is where the vast majority of such crimes occur...

But forward those emails! Keep the scare machine going! It's for the children! If you don't agree, well then, you must be a child molester too!

I don't know, our kids are outside often, I know her kids are outside all the time. If it were YOUR child of course the reaction would be different than a strangers child on line. The point my sister tried to make was yes this could very well have been a misunderstanding between a person starting to experience the American Dream OR it could have been a pedophile transport grab stopped before any harm could be done. I applaud the neighbor for keeping my nephew safe if it were the latter and I wish the entrepreneur the best if it is the prior.

The thing I find odd is this: I understand that it is hard to make a living with an ice cream truck, heading to the Charleston / Myrtle Beach area is a great idea. The guy has a drivers license issued 200 miles away in Spartanburg but the truck is from North Carolina... Now you can spit at North Carolina from Spartanburg (about 30 miles to Columbus NC)... Who owns the van?

I don't think the kid or the neighbor did anything that wasn't prudent, but I also dont think it needed to get turned into an OMG LOCK UP THE KIDS, ICE CREAM MAN IS GONNA MOLEST THEM email forward. I know that's not exactly what it said, but it's also perfectly reasonable to think that maybe this guy was unaware that in our country, we assume any stranger who talks to our kids must want nothing more than to diddle them. And seriously, if this email does go around as the author intends, people are going to drive this guy out of town whether he did anything sinister or not. I just think it's sad that most people have been conditioned to assume the worst in others, despite the fact that those assumptions are so rarely correct.

It's pretty rough being male and dealing with kids these days. I know I watch myself quite a bit around kids who's parents I don't know EXTREMELY well.

A friend was in the park doing some work and talking on his cell as it was a nice day. He didn't notice until the police officer approached that his laptop was oriented toward a play ground. The officer approached and talked to him about what he was doing etc, at a public park.

The the other shoe dropped. The officer mentioned he had come up there at the request of a mother with her child playing at the playground. The mother was concerned about this single guy at the park seemingly over looking a playground with kids at it. The officer asked him to "move along". He complied.

This guy is a normal guy. He has 3 kids of his own and his happily married. Those facts are irrelevant but I'm painting a picture for anyone reading. Having 3 kids of his own is the reason he cites for not standing up for his rights to freely go where he wants to go as a law abiding citizen. He meekly moved on at the officers request.

I'm it's crap personally. Not all single men are out to molest kids.

Xceler8x makes a very good point about the criminalization of the male gender, almost a "guilty until proven innocent" attitude around single men. Combined with the "who wants to catch a predator" mentality that is played out by the media makes almost all men suspect. People should want to protect their children but strangers account for only a small portion of molestations. Most molesters are somehow connected to the child and family and not random.

It is a lot like people around the SFBA not wanting to drive through oakland or certain part of SF due to a perceived threat of violance. Well I'd venture to say 95% of shooting, jackings, etc, the people know who they are dealing with it isn't random. If you drive a new 300c on 24in rims through the hood and get jacked though you set yourself up though.

Great, more scare wood for the fear fire.

And I would guess (and I think it is a reasonable guess) that it is more like 90-95% of all kidnapping is done by a family member. I can't guess on the molestation but I would suspect it is a high percentage also.

We should just lock them all up... the kids that is.. you know, for their own good...

The kid did good in this case, but he couldn't have been too freaked out by the situation, he did still buy something from the guy.

Yeah the kid did right, if you actually talk to your kids they all should. I'm still skeptical of strangers today. Outcasting the Ice cream guy, is a bit too much minority report for me, and the whole story reeks of FAKE since it says the kid still bought ice cream from the guy, but was cautious enough to call the neighbor lady Mom and not accept the ride.

I would be happy to give you her cell number.

I am just saying.

donalson wrote: stranger danger... good kid it sounds like :) I worry about my kids sometimes... they are WAY to friendly... everyone they meet they just talk and talk to...

I know what you mean. My daughter just started school this year. needless to say I worry about her all the time. If she is out side our apartment she is being watch by me or my wife. Even when I take her to the park I am right there. I cant take her to the RC track becouse she is to friendly to every one.

Still, the nephew was smart. Sometimes the kids can handle this stuff better than the adults.

Not much has changed as far as the mean old world goes. It's just that we have 24/7 news programming and Nancy Grace now.

Volksroddin wrote: If she is out side our apartment she is being watch by me or my wife. Even when I take her to the park I am right there.

it's a sad sad world we live in.... my folks thought nothing of my going 1/2 - 3 1/2 mi away to play...

course that was as much as 50 yrs ago... like I said it's a sad sad world....

Now I've got Van Halen stuck in my head.

being a minor (I am 16, but according to the laws governing society I'm not a whole awful lot different from someone in elementary school), it might not be as easy for me to appreciate the risks that everyone talks about, as evidenced by my habit of riding my bike most anywhere I need to go (don't have a license yet...) and having brief conversations with folks who comment on said bike before I go about my merry way, but I definitely know that there are some messed up people in the world, and while most people have good intentions, some don't, and telling the two apart is about as easy as guessing the displacement (in cubic centimeters) of an old hulk of a VW in a junkyard. the kid did good to recognize that the situation could turn ugly when the man offered to give him a ride, but the whole scenario does point to how society has gotten to the point where you can only try to be but so helpful before people flag you as a criminal. I have no reservations whatsoever in receiving help from someone who offers, as long as I can't foresee any real danger for myself (getting a gun or knife pulled on me, getting brutally beaten by people as tall as me but 200+ pounds all muscle, stuff of that sort), but if a situation seems like it could go ugly in a hurry (getting in a car with a stranger, for instance), I find other means to accomplish the same end.

also, with the whole male criminalization thing, I can certainly understand the idea of putting your kid's safety ahead of not stereotyping people or jumping to conclusions, but at some point you just have to draw the line. if I'm on a bike ride and I stop for a rest in a park near a play area and happen to sit facing the playground, does that make me a threat to the kids? I am a male, and I am single, but those two attributes does not a criminal make. justifiable as they may be in some situations, stereotypes suck

Gee, when i was 12-14 YO (mid 60s) I was riding my bike all over town. Granted it was a small town, but ...

I work with a couple of Russians. I will ask if this is customary to offer rides. If it is I say that the town needs to watch for a lawsuite regarding restriction of fair trade. If not, I say good riddance to bad rubbish.

Datsun1500 wrote: It sure is written like an urban legend, Is is something she is passing on or did it happen to one of her kids? Do her kids really have a 2 mile walk from the bus stop to the house?

The letter was written by my sister and it is about one of her children. She lives in an upscale community in Mt Pleasant and the walk from the entry to the house is closer to 1.7 miles according to Google Maps (from frontage road, Mount Pleasant, SC to palmetto bluff, Mount Pleasant, SC). I am assuming the bus drops off at the entry of the subdivision. Normally the child would be walking with his older brother who is noticeably larger than his brother. The older brother had football practice. As an aside I would like to add that Staci is not one of those scared soccer moms. She recently left the Air Force after 15 years to follow the money. She has been deployed in most major hot zones since the first Iraq war and has had Air Force One clearance,

My son (6) in the begining of July actually got in the Russian Ice cream man's truck. My neighbor pulled him out and told the man that he should NEVER offer children a ride. We had his tag # from 2 nights before when he offered me a ride and called the police. Filed a report and then realized it was hapening other places. Something BIG is going on and something bad is going to happen to someone's child... What can we do? I am awaiting a call from the officer who "cited" the Russian that picked up my son to see if he showed up for his court date and where else they are selling ice cream. I am so thankful that my son is safe and yours as well. How many kids must be approached and picked up before something can happen. As far as I have heard there are currently no laws in SC preventing the enticement of children. This needs to change! It may sound crazy but it could very well be the Russian Mafia. The sale of children and women??? You never know-my neighbor works for Boarder Patrol in Texas and claims they do exist.

If you would like to ban together and see what we can do to stop the madness before someone get taken or hurt, please let me know. I am working on what I can do by myself right now but would like to have other ideas on how to implament a law.

Sincerely-

In the Village

Share your location and make friends with all your neighbors.

The story is now available on Channel 4 news. http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0909/655270.html Just an update. The company that owns the ice cream truck has 4 other trucks in the area. The business license for the company was revoked in Mount Pleasant. More updates will be sent as they come in. Thank you, everyone, for all of your support and for spreading the awareness of this incident. With love, Staci

There is a world-wide trade in people. Google human trafficking. Could be an organized group harvesting kids. Not sure why the would be getting them in SC, when it seems like it would be a lot easier to get and get away with it them in other countries.

intheVillage wrote: It may sound crazy but it could very well be the Russian Mafia. The sale of children and women??? You never know-my neighbor works for Boarder Patrol in Texas and claims they do exist.

White slavery definitely exists.

I'm skeptical of this story but it could be a kidnapping ring -or- it could be some guys imported from Russia to work cheap who don't know any better.

If anyone has an update on this story please post it. I'd love to see some sort of resolution.