Katie.com: My Story (later republished as A Girl's Life Online) is a memoir written by Katherine Tarbox, published in 2000 by Dutton. The book provides a first-person account of Tarbox’s experience as a thirteen-year-old victim of online grooming and sexual solicitation during the late 1990s.
The narrative details Tarbox's interactions with a 41-year-old man named Frank K. Flinn, whom she met in an America Online (AOL) chat room dedicated to swimming. The text documents the progression of their digital communication and a subsequent physical meeting at a hotel during a national swim meet in Texas. The encounter led to Flinn's arrest and his subsequent conviction under federal laws regarding the transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity.
At the time of its publication, Katie.com: My Story was significant for being one of the first high-profile personal accounts of internet predatory behavior. It served as a primary source in public discourse concerning the vulnerabilities of minors in digital spaces during the early era of widespread home internet access. The book and Tarbox’s media appearances contributed to the development of internet safety education and advocacy for legislative measures to protect children online.