AIDS hot line number rings up sex line

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A bookmark distributed by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services not only teaches youths about HIV and AIDS, it provides a phone number that patches them into a hardcore sex hot line.

St. Joseph resident Lori Felzien said she found out about the hot line when her sixth-grade son dialed the number printed on a bookmark he received at Bessie Ellison Elementary School.

The boy handed his mother the phone and said, "Mom, listen to this."

Felzien's reaction: "We've got to get these cards out of these kids' hands."

The toll-free number once belonged to Teens Teaching AIDS Prevention, part of the Kansas City-based not-for-profit Good Samaritan Project. But the AIDS hot line went out of service about a year ago and a sex hot line has since taken over the number.

Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the Missouri health department, said her office is attempting to contact HIV and AIDS prevention groups around the state about the mix up.

She said the health department didn't know the AIDS hot line no longer existed until this week. Gonder added that it will now review all phone numbers it distributes.