March 23, 2007
Video: Miss America trains in Bedford
Video by Duncan Adams | Produced by Hunter Wilson
Between customers, Danya Zierhart, owner of Bedford Barber Shop, sat and gazed out her window Thursday at the city's sleepy Main Street. Zierhart said she had no idea Miss America was due to arrive in minutes just up the street at the Bedford County Courthouse. Bedford doesn't pull in many celebrities, she said. Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal has been in the neighborhood. Zierhart said she never saw him.
But Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson, 20, came to Bedford to learn from law enforcement officials how to keep young people safe from sexual predators operating online. As a result, she, like Shaq, became an honorary member of the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and an honorary deputy sheriff.
Nelson, an Oklahoma native, said that she, as a teen, and friends had a close call with an Internet predator. As Miss America, her "personal platform" focuses on Internet safety for children.
Amanda Staubs, 21, accompanied Nelson. As a teen, Staubs was lured from her home by a man posing online as someone her age. Ultimately, she was abducted and sexually assaulted. Staubs said she decided to talk publicly about her ordeal because she thought personal testimony might reach children more effectively than classes and pamphlets.
Comments
[March 23, 2007 4:49 PM]
amanda gomezhey omg miss america is beautiful and this article is great i like being able to watch clips like this.