The number of teenage girls suffering from a sexually transmitted disease is on the rise. When it comes to parenting her teenage daughter, Esther Leos doesn't leave anything to chance. “As mothers, I think that we have a responsibility to teach our girls about this so they won't be sexually active until they're ready, and to me, it’s until they’re married,” Leos. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in four teenage girls in the U.S. between the ages of 14 and 19 has at lease one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases -- either the human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and trichomoniasis. “It does concern me,” said Leos. While it's a concern for many parents, Priscilla Leos, 15, says she's not surprised. “I have a lot of friends and stuff that are sexually active and a lot of girls at my school are pregnant already,” she said. HPV is the most common. It affected close to 20 percent of the teenage girls studied. “I think what we're seeing with regard to sexually transmitted diseases is an epidemic,” said Gary Rose, an internist and the president and CEO of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health. He attributes the upward trend to an "over-sexualized" culture. “Another problem is that generally, people think that if they use a condom, that they're 'protected' and having 'safe sex,' but we know that for some of these diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis, using a condom only lowers your risk by about 50 percent,” said Dr. Rose. Some STDs can lead to infertility and cervical cancer, and they often have no symptoms. “I don't think they understand the severity of what it can do to your body,” said Morgan Wortham, 16. “I think girls are pressure into things a lot of times when they don't really know what the consequences would be,” said Whitney Wortham, 15. Some Teens Not Surprised by Latest STD Findings

A Manhattan hooker interviewed by Diane Sawyer for an ABC special on prostitution was busted by her mom — who recognized her daughter, despite the network's efforts to disguise her. "I'm mentioning the interview now because last night, I learned that my parents tuned in to ABC that fateful day and promptly recognized me, in spite of the silhouette, the altered voice, the distorted profile, the vague and thoroughly dated details," wrote the hooker, who blogs on wordpress.com under the name "debauchette.""I received an e-mail from my mother saying that she knows. She saw the interview and decided to sit on this knowledge until she could see it again, and then she decided to contact me." The blogger refused an interview with The Post. "Unfortunately, while my mother knows about my other life, I still worry about being outed altogether and I don't think I have the strength for that risk right now," she wrote. "It's been a rough few days."

CULT UNDERAGE GIRLS in ELDORADO, Texas —  State authorities began a second day of court-ordered DNA testing Tuesday on members of a polygamist sect, an effort they hope will begin to untangle the group's complicated family relationships. Officials in a massive custody case are trying to identify the parents of 437 children taken from a West Texas compound more than two weeks ago. The testing of ranch residents was taking place in the courthouse square as a handful of deputies in cowboy hats stood guard. David Williams, 32, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, came on his own from his home in Nevada, hoping to take custody of his sons. Williams said he doesn't pay attention to the news and only heard his three sons were in state custody from a friend. Clutching a Book of Mormon and photos of the boys ages 5, 7 and 9, Williams looked at his feet as he said his children were "taken hostage by the state." Looking for Answers

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