TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Social Media Crime

  • Shefelbine’s dad gets probation

    Suspect’s Father Gets Probation:

    David Shefelbine, the father of suspected serial predator Scott Shefelbine, received probation for punching out a female reporter.

    David Shefelbine of Tolland, father of Scott Shefelbine, received the special form of probation for a year, by Judge Patricia L. Harleston.

    In granting the probation, Harleston directed David Shefelbine to have “no assaultive behavior toward anyone, particularly anyone in the news media.”

    I guess there goes the father-son picnic at county lockup.

  • MySpace sex offender facing child porn charges

    Sex offender faces child porn charges:

    Carl Courtright of Granite City, Illinois was one of those registered sex offenders that had a profile on MySpace when he shouldn’t have. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan used that to obtain a search warrant to Courtright’s home.

    Police searched the house on the morning of Aug. 9 and seized several computers, hard drives, and computer equipment.

    One DVD, listed in the search warrant return, is titled “Dateline NBC to Catch a Predator.”

    Investigators with Madigan’s High Tech Crimes Bureau used IP address information obtained from MySpace to learn that Courtright had been actively trading pornographic images over the Internet.

    “Child predators who think they are safe hiding behind a computer screen are no longer anonymous,” Madigan said in a written release. “We have the technology and we are committed to using all of our resources to seek them out and hold them accountable for their crimes.”

    It’s nice to see that a state attorney general is using the information to go after criminals and not just MySpace.

  • Court employee failed to supervise Shefelbine

    Court worker suspended for failing to track whereabouts of accused MySpace molester:

    You remember Scott Shefelbine don’t you? He’s the guy who was arrested a brazillion times for molesting underage girls he met on MySpace even after he was already arrested. It turns out that a court employee by the name of Joann Vaughan has been suspended without pay because she failed to keep track of Shefelbine after one of the many times he posted bail. During that time it’s believed he visited one of his victims when his bond specified he was forbidden from doing so.

  • Werribee victim may have to testify

    Trio to plead not guilty over DVD attack:

    Alleged victim to appear at DVD trial:

    Three suspects in the infamous Werribee, Australia sexual assault DVD intend to plead not guilty when they return to court in December. This ought to be good considering the suspects were caught on videotape, but it’s not like the court is going out of its way to actually punish these criminals.

    To make matters worse, attorneys for some of the suspects are planning on questioning the victim under cross-examination. normally I would say that tactic may work against them but again the courts aren’t bending over backwards to punish these teenage rapists.

    Thanks to Alan for the tip.

  • Utah MySpace rapist

    Hurricane police arrest rape suspect who met alleged victim on MySpace.com:

    Police In Hurricane, Utah arrested 21-year-old David R. Miller (no MySpace found) on rape charges. Miller met his 18-year-old victim on MySpace after she had recently moved to the area to attend school.

    The victim told police she had numerous on-line conversations with the suspect and the two agreed to meet. They drove to a remote location in Hurricane City, where the reported rape occurred.

    The alleged suspect was located and interrogated a few days later. Det. Raleigh Morris arrested 21-year-old David R. Miller on one count of rape and one count of forcible sodomy, both first class felonies. Miller was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility on Aug. 28.

    Purgatory doesn’t quite sound enough. I wish it was called the Hell Correctional Facility myself.

  • Facebook lynchmob strikes again

    Facebook group made false assumption with released sketch:

    The Riley County Police Department in the area of Kansas State University released a sketch on Friday of someone wanted for questioning in connection with a serial rapist that has been plaguing the area. A Facebook group called “Catch Him 2007: We Need Your Help!” posted the sketch and stated that the person in the sketch was the actual rapist. One thing leads to another and someone finds a picture on Facebook that resembled the sketch and the guy’s name and picture were posted next to the sketch. Those postings have since been removed.

    Not surprisingly police are not happy.

    While this individual might have resembled the sketch, Swartz said, sketches are not always perfect representations because they are based on descriptions given to a sketch artist.

    “What I don’t want is people thinking this is the rapist and exclude other individuals that may appear suspicious,” Det. Carla Swartz said.

    A concerned citizen’s best option is to refer to police information on issues like the alleged rapist, because students easily can cross the legal grounds of libel or harm the reputation of someone who is accused in a public forum, Swartz said.

    Leave the sleuthing to the professionals.

  • Joshua Innes sentenced.

    Nine years:

    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.

  • Sean Lennon

    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.

  • David Laguna

    Man convicted of sexual assault:

    40-year-old David Laguna of Chino, California was convicted yesterday for sexual assault. Laguna met a disabled woman from Truckee, California on TagWorld and went to her house and assaulted her. The victim has Parkinson’s and heart disease. According to Google maps from Chino to Truckee is roughly 8 hours. Laguna is looking only at a max of 26 years.

  • Slo-N-Low

    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.