One Maine family is learning that sometimes the virtual battlefield includes some very real dangers.
Last year, a 14-year-old boy met Cassandra Grant playing the popular PlayStation 3 game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," beginning a virtual relationship that quickly escalated to include the exchange of text messages, webcam meetings and phone calls, NBC Connecticut reported.
While the boy's family apparently knew about the online affair, they thought Grant was 16, according to the Monroe Patch. In fact, however, the Rockland resident was 21.
Grant arranged to meet with the 14-year-old for their first in-person encounter in December 2011, and the two allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse. Only later did the boy's parents learn the truth about his cyber girlfriend, calling the police when they realized her real age.
According to the Connecticut Post, Grant turned herself in to police on Monday and was released on $10,000 bail. Police in Monroe told the Hartford Courant that she was charged with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. The local police was aided by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit, which conducted a forensic analysis of the PlayStation consoles and cell phones to ultimately obtain an arrest warrant.