[BryanK]

I need some advice please, on a predator(not the animal variety) defense issue that arose in my neck of the woods last night. My girlfriends Aunt lives next door to us, and last night we get a call from her after a police cruiser left her home. She tells us that her 12 year old daughter has received gifts from her male teacher such as large Godiva chocolate arrangements and flowers. The first time this happened she went to the school's principal, then the teacher to ask that he never gives her anything else like that again. Problem solved right? No. There was no reprimand from the school. At the end of last week before spring break he gave all his students candy for Easter, but my girlfriends niece received a large and expensive Godiva chocolate arrangement. Way more than the rest of the students. She cannot go to the school for the next week because school is out, so she calls the police. They arrive and tell her there is nothing they can do in a nutshell. I tell her that if her dogs(Labs) start to bark, give us a call and I will be right over. This neighborhood is not well lit at all either, so I told her to turn on all of the lights, and let the dogs roam the house also. She is so frightened she didn't sleep all last night. My line of thinking is if this guy is a predator, he has staked out the area, found vantage points to view the house from, and knows relatively when people are where at whatever time of the day. I did a bit of recon of the neighborhood last night to check for strange vehicles and such, but found nothing. There is several dark places for someone to approach from, and a good bit of woods. The police response times aren't too bad here, but when seconds count, the police are just minutes away (no offense to any Officers). She has three children in the home. 2 daughters 14 and 12, and one son 8. My question is, how would any of you deal with something like this should you get a call from your neighbor asking you to help because someone is in, or attempting to get in your home? I opt for a flashlight and a shotgun, but I realize this may not be the best avenue of approach being I am a MD resident.