Amber Alert Saves a Boy and His Mother

The Amber Alert system really does work. Here's the proof:

(CBS) LOS ANGELES A 7-year-old boy allegedly abducted by his father was found safe after a driver saw an Amber Alert and called police with a matching vehicle description and license plate.

Jacinto Alejandro Jiron was abducted around 5:50 p.m. Saturday in Sun Valley. Police was searcing for the father's teal green Toyota Corolla. A driver in Ontario spotted the vehicle and called police, according to Los Angeles police Sgt. M. Patton of the North Hollywood Station.

The boy's mother was also abducted, Patton said, adding that both mother and son are safe. Jacinto Cuerro, the boy's father, is suspected in the abductions. The father has not been arrested, however the California Highway Patrol reported that they had the mother and son.

Consider Yourself On Alert

I saw my first Amber Alert today on the way to work. There was a message about a child abduction on the electronic sign over the highway. That shook me out of my morning stupor.

While it's fortunate such a rapid response system exists, it's tragic that child abductions are so common as to require such a system in the first place.

Luckily, this morning's abduction ended quicky and peacefully. After all, Florida is the place where Jessica Lunsford, Sarah Lunde and Carlie Brucia met untimely ends after sex offenders abducted, molested and murdered them.

Sex offenders are limited in where they may live; they are not permitted to be near residences with children or near schools, for example. But the Internet opens up the world to them and allows them to anonymously pursue their sick predilections wherever they choose.

I don't blame the Internet for the way people use it. I blame the people who misuse it. And while stopping paedophiles on here is a lofty task, I'm sure we can give them hell if we try.