47-year-old Pedro Ibarra of Chicago, was recently arrested for allegedly molesting a juvenile. The assault is said to have taken place at a Hancock County, Indiana motel, which is a three-hour drive from Chicago.
Ibarra is said to have met his victim on the chat site Omegle. Again for the uninitiated, Omegle is not an app as many news outlets report. It’s just a website where people with webcams are connected to random people to chat with. The only age check on Omegle is a banner that says the chats are monitored, (Are they, though?) and a small blurb that says you must be 18 to use Omegle or be 13 with the permission of a parent. I can almost guarantee you that no parent is giving permission to their kids unless they have no idea what Omegle is. In case you had any question about it, Omegle’s own motto is “Talk to strangers.”
Ibarra is said to have picked the juvenile up in his car before driving to the motel. According to prosecutors, Ibarra told the victim he did so because…
“He thought he was cute, and the second reason was because he (meaning Ibarra) was a pedophile.”
Jesus. Imagine being an underage kid, getting into some guy’s car, and he introduces himself as a pedophile before driving you to a motel.
Tragically, the victim was said to have been molested by Ibarra at the motel even after the victim protested. Ibarra was said to be in possession of child porn as well.
Ibarra has been removed from his position as a teacher and was held on $500,000 bond.
I know I’m repeating myself, but until people get it, I’m going to keep saying it. Omegle is not an app! While most of the modern internet runs off apps, Omegle is a run-of-the-mill website that can be accessed through any device with a web browser and a camera. If you want to know if your kids have been on Omegle, check their browser history and not their apps list. Omegle has become popular with the TikTok crowd due to funny videos that have been posted on TikTok. Think about having a discussion with your kids about how dangerous Omegle really is.
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 