I originally posted about Joshua Innes here. He’s the 25-year-old creep from Montreal who blackmailed underage girls into stripping for him using the Canadian social site Nexopia.
He was sentenced to 9 years behind bars by an Edmonton judge.
Provincial court Judge James Wheatley said Joshua Innes’ crimes are “unprecedented” and that other predators must be deterred from following suit.
I don’t think a nine-year sentence is going to be enough to discourage these kinds of predators.
No, not John Lennon’s son.
MySpace Rape Arrest: What Parents Can Do:
21-year-old Sean Lennon of Ravena, New York, is under arrest for the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
It started as an e-mail exchange through MySpace dot com according to the Albany County Sheriff’s Department. They say 21 year old Sean Lennon of Ravena befriended the then 14 year old girl online. Authorities say she was clear in telling Lennon of her age but the two met anyway. The first of two sexual encounters happened in a wooded area behind the Ravena firehouse. Investigators say Lennon convinced the girl to sneak out of her house.
The article also contains some common-sense tips to help keep your kids safe.
Man faces felonies for sex with girl:
36-year-old Daniel Dietz has been arrested for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. What makes it worse is that they were introduced by the girl’s mom.
The girl’s mother told police she introduced her teenage daughter to Dietz at a support-group meeting she had been attending and through which the mother had become acquainted with Dietz, the documents said.
“According to statements received from members of the support group, they observed (the girl) and Dietz playing ‘footsies’ along with other flirtatious behavior and on multiple occasions these members indicated to Dietz the behavior was not appropriate,” the documents state.
After meeting the girl, Dietz allegedly began talking with her via the Internet.
Dietz delivered to police his two laptop computers, which he gave the detectives permission to search. Upon reviewing Dietz’s MySpace account on which he uses the moniker “Slo-N-Low,” detectives found an Internet chat conversation between Dietz and the girl.
In a MySpace chat on March 25, according to court documents, Dietz spoke with the teen about “sexually explicit matters.” During the conversation, Dietz allegedly asked for a photo of the teen and she complied by sending him a photo of herself with her bare chest exposed, the documents said.
Dietz also allegedly used one of his computers to transmit a photo of his genitalia to the 13-year-old’s e-mail account, court documents allege.
According to MySpace account records, Dietz and the teen discussed meeting and carrying out plans to engage in the sexual activity they had discussed in Internet chat conversations, court documents said.
“During one Internet chat the two noted that they knew sexual contact between them was illegal because (the girl) was only 13 years old,” court documents state.
Dietz spent the night at the girl’s home after fixing her computer, according to court documents, and while the teen’s mother slept, the girl performed a sex act on Dietz in the family’s kitchen.
Court documents state the girl said she also engaged in sex acts with Dietz on other occasions at her home and at his residence.
I bet when he’s in prison, he’s going to regret using the moniker of “Slo-N-Low”.
Links via Metal Sludge.
New Jersey asks 12 Web sites to check for sex offenders:
New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram has not only asked MySpace for sex offender information, she’s also asked eleven other sites to do the same.
Attorney General Anne Milgram has asked for information from Xanga.com, Facebook, Community Connect, TagWorld, Bebo, MyYearbook.com, Tagged, Friendster, LiveJournal, Imeem, Hi5 and Gaia Online.
I’ll give her this much, she’s thorough. Some of those sites I hadn’t even heard of. But like other states Attorneys General, she’s picking on MySpace…
The Attorney General’s Office has issued three subpoenas to MySpace, but the 12 other sites will soon be getting letters from Milgram asking for help.
And also, like the other state Attorneys General, there’s no mention of parents doing a better job of monitoring their children.
Man charged with using MySpace to lure girl into prostitution:
32-year-old Melvin Charles Parker Jr. of Richmond, California was arrested for using MySpace to lure a 16-year-old girl into prostitution.
Once the girl arrived in town, police stopped her on the street for questioning when it appeared she was trying to find customers. She told police Parker threatened her into prostitution.
“He told her that he wanted her to prostitute herself, or his friends would look up her family and hurt them,” said Margo Rohrbacher, a spokeswoman for the San Rafael police.
Police said they told the girl to call Parker, and listened in as he gave her instructions on where to meet him to deliver her earnings. He was arrested when he arrived.
I couldn’t find a MySpace for Parker. But if you needed another reason why kids should not be posting their personal info online, this is it.
Cooper still pushing for parental consent to use MySpace:
Seriously, Roy, it’s time to hang it up.
Even after being crushed in the North Carolina House, Attorney General Roy Cooper is still touting his master plan for MySpace.
Attorney General Roy Cooper vowed Monday to keep pressuring lawmakers to approve legislation that will require minors to get parental permission before using MySpace.com and other social networking Web sites.
North Carolina legislators failed to pass a bill this year targeting such sites, as some House members and Internet commerce groups said a broad restriction would be unworkable and unconstitutional.
“One thing we pride ourselves in doing is being ahead of the curve with ideas,” Cooper said during a news conference. “Sometimes it just takes the slow-moving Legislature a period of time to see the light.”
Or how about a slow Attorney General who doesn’t realize the technology doesn’t exist yet?
Cooper said age verification technology is already being used on adult oriented sites that advertise tobacco and alcohol. He said social networking sites just don’t want to lose the revenue generated from advertising to young people, an accusation MySpace denies.
What? You mean, that stupid drop-down menu that asks you your age? Yeah, nobody lies about that. The other form of verification is called a credit card. While a parent’s credit card may be helpful with parental consent, it doesn’t prevent kids from just lifting the numbers and using it themselves. Plus, it opens a whole other issue of identity theft.
And my favorite part…
Officials in two states have said MySpace recently identified more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles. The company will not confirm the reports but said it is working to locate and remove profiles posted by sexual offenders.
Cooper threatened Monday to take action against MySpace if it fails to require parental consent voluntarily, but he declined to discuss specifics.
That’s Roy Cooper for you. He hasn’t been specific since he started this whole ordeal. From now on, I’m going to refer to him as Mr. Vague.
Popular Web site is target of probe:
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is up to his usual misguided ways. This time, he’s focusing his wrath on Facebook.
Connecticut’s attorney general is scrutinizing Facebook, the popular social-networking site, for allowing convicted sex offenders to register, calling into question whether the company is doing enough to protect users.
The inquiry by Richard Blumenthal is designed to force Palo Alto’s Facebook to take a more aggressive stand against sexual predators after his office uncovered at least three cases of such offenders becoming members, a spokesman confirmed. In addition, Blumenthal’s team found that some of Facebook’s users had posted sexually explicit material that was not swiftly removed.
A whole three, compared to MySpace’s 29,000. Ooooooooh, Facebook really is a criminal haven.
Connecticut officials have contacted Facebook and asked it to remove the sex offenders’ profiles. Blumenthal plans to continue his inquiry.
A Facebook spokeswoman did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Chris Kelly, the company’s chief privacy officer, told the New York Times that he is not familiar with the Connecticut investigation but that the company receives many reports about sex offenders registering on the Web site. The profiles are usually removed within 72 hours, he said.
“We want to be a good partner to the states in attempting to address this societal problem,” Kelly told the Times. “We’ve worked with them for quite some time now, and we look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership.”
Facebook maintains more-stringent security rules than some of its competitors because of its early days as an online destination for students. Full user profiles aren’t visible to the general public, for instance, and can be seen only by people who have been confirmed as friends.
It’s bad enough that AG Blumenthal places the blame on MySpace instead of inattentive parents. Now he’s going after a site that has very little criminal activity. In the year and a half that I’ve been doing this site, the stories about Facebook pale in comparison to the stories about MySpace.
As I’ve said before, AG Blumenthal needs to concentrate on keeping sex offenders off the streets than off of MySpace or Facebook.
Energy bill advances; MySpace rules fail:
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper’s proposed legislation to make teens get parental permission before signing up for MySpace has failed in the State House.
But the second bill lost its headlining clause, a requirement that parents give permission for their younger teenagers to sign up for online social-networking sites. Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake, said that legal and technical experts raised too many unanswered questions about whether the proposal was feasible and constitutional.
It is expected that the Senate will reject the changes and the bill will end up in a conference committee.
So there are still some sensible politicians left in the world.
Police: Myspace mission leads to sex arrest:
The police department of Punta Gorda, Florida has been featured on this site many times. Usually, it’s for the arrest of some drug dealer that blatantly advertises on MySpace. This time they made a completely different kind of arrest.
Punta Gorda PD arrested 19-year-old Tyler Stancker of Pennsylvania. Stancker traveled from Pennsylvania to Florida in order to have sex with a 14-year-old girl he met on MySpace.
He is being charged with fourteen counts of Lewd Battery, two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation, and one count of Prohibited Use of Computer Services.
He will be transported to the Charlotte County Jail for booking procedures where he will be held on no bond.
Wow, no bond. That’s pretty harsh. Not that he’ll get any sympathy from me. I still don’t understand why someone would travel that great a distance for a 14-year-old girl.