Maybe not everyone has already heard by now:
http://www.sacbee.co...ory/147337.htmlJust in case the link to the article disappears, which happens often:
Andre Anderson, the Folsom teen found hanging in a tree on March 13 died of "Asphyxia by Hanging, Autoerotic Type," Sacramento County coroner Robert Lyons said Friday afternoon.
Lyons, in a press conference at his office, explained that the practice involves "intentionally reducing the amount of oxygen to the brain during sexual stimulation."
Considered a dangerous game, it is usually played alone, often with tragic consequences.
Lyons was joined at the press conference by Folsom Police Chief Sam Spiegel and Dr. Mark Super, the county's chief forensic pathologist.
"This is a tough, tough loss to understand," Spiegel said.
Spiegel was adamant about the need for increased education about the risky behavior that is claiming up to 1,000 adult or youth victims a year nationwide, according to FBI statistics.
Police and school districts routinely offer information about drugs, drunken driving and similar topics. It is time to add this to the curriculum even though the subject matter is sure to make some parents and teachers squeamish, Spiegel said.
When asked what parents should be looking for, Spiegel said, "Part of it is knowing what your kids are looking at on the Internet."
Police investigators found evidence on the teenager's home computer indicating that he had been researching autoerotic asphyxiation, according to Spiegel.
The positioning of Anderson's body, the binding materials that were used and other evidence at the scene pointed toward autoerotic asphyxiation. An autopsy performed March 14 found "no other significant trauma ... other than marks left by the ligature," Lyons said.
The toxicology report, released Friday, showed no drugs or alcohol in the teen's system.
Anderson was found about 9 a.m. by passers-by in a small neighborhood park residents call "Big Foot Park." It is just a few doors down from Anderson's home near Turn Pike Drive and Hopfield Drive in the Natoma Station neighborhood.
He was last seen at home about 10 p.m. the day before. His parents noticed that he was missing by about 12:30 a.m. and by about 3:30 a.m. they had called the police.
The nature of the death and the fact that the teen's father is African American and his mother white helped fuel speculation and anxiety throughout the area. The Sacramento branch of the NAACP and many residents criticized the Police Department's fairly quick decision that no foul play was evident and the death was most likely accidental.
Super said that lack of understanding about the nature of autoerotic asphyxiation may have come into play in the community reaction. For example, "this behavior is almost always solitary," Super said.
People tend to assume that it is connected with masturbation. But often, the goal is to heighten the sexual fantasy the person is engaged in, Super said.
Information about a form of a choking game, known by various names and intended to produce a "natural high," has spread among youths via the Web. Participants have been fooled into thinking it is a drug-free, safe recreation, but don't realize that it can be fatal in just a few minutes, child-safety experts say.
In some teens, those experts add, the choking game can take on elements of autoerotic asphyxiation.
Although a person playing with asphyxiation often will include some type of safety mechanism, Anderson appeared not to have had one, Lyons said.
Representatives from the Police Department and the coroner's office met with the Anderson family before the coroner's press conference at 4:30 p.m.
"We've come to accept it," Craig Anderson, the victim's father, said early Friday evening during a brief telephone interview. "It is very hard to accept these findings."
He predicted that his son's legion of friends will not be convinced by anything the coroner has to say. "I know they won't accept it."
Anderson said he did not think his son was the victim of foul play.
His family needs time to deal with its grief, he said. Perhaps, later, he will participate in whatever educational program the school district develops in response to his son's death, Anderson said.
Sacramento County sees only one or two of these deaths a year, so far, Lyons said. He agreed with Spiegel that more education is needed because even a few cases a year are too many.
