Special Report: Keys to your kids

We've never met the teen that lives at this Littleton house. But we know all about her. Her name. What she looks like. Where she goes to school. Even her cell phone number.

Byron
"I could have been a predator and I tracked your daughter right to her house."

Mr. Rico
"I'm very concerned about that."

And it was easy to do. We simply logged on the popular teen website MySpace.com and starting scanning profiles. A few hours later we had enough information on local teens to knock on their front doors, much to the surprise of their parents.

Mr. Rico
"It's pretty scary."

And law enforcement is concerned.

Detective Frank Dannahey, Rocky Hill Police Dept.
"It's easy to get a profile of who this is, where they live and where you might even find them."

Detective Frank Dannahey has been catching sex offenders for years. He says MySpace has become the perfect playground for people who prey on teens.

Detective Frank Dannahey, Rocky Hill Police Dept.
"Teens are very trusting. And when someone says, ‘Hey I'm a 17 year old student in school in the town next door to you,’ I think they'll believe it."

We also tracked down Nikki, a 17 year old from South Weymouth. She listed her favorite movies, books, and television shows.

Detective Frank Dannahey, Rocky Hill Police Dept.
"You'd have guys talking to teens for weeks or even months to get the kind of information that a quick read of their page is now revealing."

Byron
"What do you think about a stranger being able to find out all that information about you?"

Nikki
"That's actually really creepy."

Forcing your teen to delete their MySpace page all together won't work. They can easily create a new page, and keep it hidden from parents.

Instead, experts suggest you monitor the page regularly. Tara of Belmont actually created her own MySpace profile so she could keep an eye on her 13-year-old daughter's page.

Tara, Mother
"Not that I don't trust her, but it's everyone else I guess I don't trust."

Chantel says she doesn't mind mom overseeing her MySpace profile.

Chantel, 13 years old
"I know she's trying to help me and protect me from predators that are out in the world."

Insist your teens keep their page private and only allow people they know access to it.

Detective Frank Dannahey, Rocky Hill Police Dept.
"The more private you keep your page the more safe you are."

And as for Mr. Rico, whose daughter who we tracked down?

Byron
"Were you surprised that I could get that information and track your daughter right to her house?"

Mr. Rico
"Very surprised. And it will be removed."

(Copyright (c) 2006 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)