Sex offender can’t stay off MySpace

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It seems that at least one sex offender couldn’t stop from being on MySpace.

Former New York Catholic high school teacher Matthew Glasser has violated his probation. He avoided a prison sentence for his charges of having sex with a 16-year-old student.

He violated his probation by failing to find a home that isn’t in one of the zones that sex offenders can’t live in.

However, he also failed to stop using his MySpace even though the court ordered him offline.

Hey Attorney General Cuomo, how’s that legislation designed to keep sex offenders off of MySpace working?

Comments

8 responses to “Sex offender can’t stay off MySpace”

February 23, 2008

Concerned parent

Hello Trench,
He never accesed his MYSPACE or e-mail sites. He gave his passworde to his father because the probation officer was supposed to take that sites down with him and never did. She imposed the no computer use as special condition and to protect him against a violation of probation he took positive action. By the way hw is from Connecticut and there are no zones . Get the story right.

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February 28, 2008

Matt&#039s Girlfrie

Matt has not touched the internet since his probation began. I should know, I’m with him 24/7. He did not take the myspace account down because he was told by his probation officer that they would take it down together on their second probation meeting. This never happened. In the meantime, Matt’s father took over the accounts so that Matt had no possible way of logging into the sites.

Also, there are no zones. The probation officer sets regulations on where you can live. The sex offender registry does not even have laws of residency, though there is a bill in the works. It is all based on probation. You try finding a place to live that is not near a school, park or daycare. It also cannot be in a place where a pattern of driving would allow you to drive near these places. There can be no children in the neighborhood and on top of all of that, the landlord must approve you. Out of probably 200 or more addresses, there have been 30 that could possibly be approved. Only one was and it is where Matt is living now. After less than a month, probation revoked it’s approval stating that there were children in the neighborhood that were not initially brought up. Tell me, what constitutes a neighborhood? A street? A 10 mile radius?

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March 17, 2008

lawyer

The law is constitutioanlly vague if it does not set forth a formula that allows him to ascertain where he can live – simlply because he could break the law without knowing he is doing so – that, and the ability for authorities to decide the georgraphic limits from case to case, as they are here, also makes the statue vague.

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March 17, 2008

Anon

“lawyer”, may I assume you meant UNconstitutionally vague? Not trying to nitpick, but those two letters are rather crucial to your point.

And “Matt’s Girlfriend”, just curious, is he recovering?

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March 22, 2008

Matt&#039s Girlfrie

I don’t understand what you mean by “recovering?” This is a very difficult situation with a lot of self questioning and exploration. The limitations that have been the result of the sentencing are, indeed, very difficult and sometimes, prohibitive of rehabilitation. The hard part of this case is that it is a case of consensual sex. If the status of teacher and student were removed it would not be un-lawful. Morally wrong? Absolutely…but not illegal. Matt will never be allowed to teach again, nor, do I think he would ever want to. In that sense, he would not have the opportunity to “offend” in the same capacity that he did in the past. Does he suffer pedophilia? No. Absolutely not. Contrary to what has been reported, he did not know the girl when she was 9 years old. This was a very bad and hurtful decision made by Matt. I can say that he is very much remorseful and trying incredibly hard to abide by the conditions put on him. However, the conditions are not regulated and there are no standard processes or procedures. I can say, in my opinion, that it is extremely hard to NOT violate your probation. We both, along with many of Matt’s wonderful friends and family are taking every opportunity to help him. Unfortunately, our support is often unrecognized and our morals and values are being questioned, when in reality, probation has made no effort to meet or talk with anyone other than myself.
What I’ve learned is that no one is without risk of sexually offending. Being aware of the law, our weaknesses and having a clearly defined of what we feel is morally right and wrong, help us all avoid making the mistakes others have.

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May 7, 2008

get your facts

well i’m just confused, didn’t this happen in connecticut, not new york? if that fact is wrong, what other facts are?

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May 23, 2008

HS friend JK

Matt made a huge mistake and will repay whatever debt to society he owes! He’s not your typical creep like everyone makes him out to be. Give the guy a break. He owned up to his wrong and has my 100% support!

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July 2, 2008

Truth

Um just to clarify this incident did not take place in the state of New York it happened in West Hartford, Connecticut so you really should fix that.

The whole situation is incredibly complicated and his case was one of the first ones brought up under the law. The problem is that in the state of Ct the age of consent is 16 so around Junior year of high school. However there is a law that says a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student is illegal regardless of age or consent. As a result the girl could of been 18 and he still would of been charged with the same crime even though the girl is 18 and a legal adult.

So this is not cut or dry or black and white its been a problem for everyone involved in it directly or indirectly regardless of if they support Matt or think what he did was wrong.

But please correct the facts. I’m surprised “Matts Girlfriend” did not mention the major misinformation in the article.

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