TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: connecticut

  • Yet another Conn. Creeper

    Yet another Conn. Creeper

    Man Charged In MySpace Case:

    A 26-year-old wedding videographer from Somers was charged Tuesday with having illicit sexual contact with a 15-year-old local girl whom he brought to Massachusetts after meeting her on the popular Internet website MySpace.com.

    Jason Palmeira was arrested at his residence by the FBI, Simsbury police and state police. He is charged with using the Internet to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of attempting to have, and having, illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

    Palmeira was presented in U.S. District Court in Hartford and released after posting $100,000 bail. U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith ordered Palmeira to reside with his parents at their home in Springfield. Smith also restricted Palmeira’s access to the Internet, according to a news release.

    The federal arrest affidavit says the girl posted a message on the online networking website in June, saying she wanted to meet single guys in Connecticut who are under the age of 18. On June 21, Palmeira sent an e-mail saying he was 26 and the two began communicating through e-mails and the phone, according to authorities.

    In July, the girl asked Palmeira if it was okay if the two did not engage in sex and Palmeira responded that they could do what she felt comfortable with, according to the affidavit. He talked with the girl about taking photographs of herself. On July 12, he sent her an e-mail saying he could get together over the next two days, according to the affidavit.

    Palmeira traveled on July 13 from Massachusetts to Connecticut to meet the girl, picking her up in a green sports car. He drove the girl to Massachusetts, bringing her to a location he described as his girlfriend’s house, the affidavit says.

    Once at the house, Palmeira is accused of having sexual contact with the girl, putting his finger in her vagina and driving her back to Connecticut, dropping her off at the Simsbury Public Library the following morning, according to the affidavit. He later sent an e-mail to her, saying that he hoped she didn’t get into too much trouble with her parents, that he was sorry and that he felt bad about cheating on his girlfriend. Several days later he e-mailed her, telling her to lie about her name and to call him.

    Eventually, Palmeira was busted by the girl’s mom.

    I wasn’t able to find his MySpace, but I did find his business site. I get the feeling that TLC will no longer be doing business with him.

  • David Leonard arrested again

    David Leonard arrested again

    Leonard arrested on sexual assault charges:

    It seems our favorite Conn. College Creeper is at it again. Dave Leonard has been arrested once more…

    NEW BRITAIN – The rap sheet on 22-year-old David Leonard continues to expand as he was arrested on additional charges over the weekend after investigations revealed he may have committed illegal sexual acts with a pair of females in New Britain.

    Leonard, who is listed as living with his parents in Vernon, was arrested Friday morning on charges of two counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of illegal sexual contact, employing a minor in an obscene performance and promoting a minor in an obscene performance.

    This is the second time Leonard, who was arrested in May on charges of possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, has been in trouble with New Britain police and the third time he has been arrested for sexual contact with a minor in the past year.

    Leonard is already facing charges of second-degree sexual assault on a minor in Tolland Superior Court for an incident that occurred in the Vernon area last fall and has been arraigned on charges of third-degree sexual assault and resisting arrest for an alleged encounter with two 12-year-old female victims in Newington.

    Details on the latest arrest were unavailable through the police department on Sunday afternoon. Leonard was detained over the weekend and the amount of bond withheld from arrest reports.

    You would think that since he’s been busted twice, he wouldn’t have tried it a 3rd time. That’s what you get for thinking. I hope this gets him sent away for an awfully long time.

    His MySpace has been removed and if he has a new one I can’t find it.

    H/T to Deb.

  • Another Conn. Creeper

    Another Conn. Creeper

    Chaplin man arrested; allegedly met girl, 13, on MySpace.com:

    A 27-year-old Chaplin man was arrested and a missing 13-year-old Hebron girl was found in a Portland motel room late Monday night. State police say the pair allegedly began a relationship after she used the Web site Myspace.com.

    Aaron Whitney was charged with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He is being held on $750,000 bond and was to appear in Middletown Superior Court today.

    State police responded to a complaint of a missing girl Monday afternoon. Troopers learned the girl never got on her school bus and did not go to school. After finding out about the alleged relationship, police identified the suspect and put out descriptions of the suspect, his car and the missing girl. A Portland police officer located the car at the Portland Motel just before midnight. Police say both Whitney and the girl were in the room.

    Whitney was taken into custody and the girl was transported to Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, was treated and released to her parents.

    What is up with Connecticut? It seems like they have more of these stories than any other state.

    Anyway, here is more than likely Aaron Whitney’s MySpace. The only thing that doesn’t match is his age. Plus, it’s all stripped down. Maybe he was clearing it in case of an arrest.

  • Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    CCSU student held in MySpace case :

    Is Conn. like the MySpace predator breeding ground?

    A Central Connecticut State University student was arrested Tuesday morning after police said they discovered he had made contact with a 12-year-old Newington girl on MySpace and used the connection to set up a sexual encounter with the girl and a 12-year-old friend. David Leonard of New Britain, was arrested by the Newington detectives at his home on charges of third-degree sexual assault and resisting arrest.

    Lt. Stephen Clark of the Newington Police Department said detectives first began investigating the incident after they received information from a Department of Children and Families worker about the victim’s encounter with Leonard.

    Police said the relationship first began in summer 2005 when one of the victims used her sister’s screen name and began corresponding with Leonard using the popular Internet profile and chat program, myspace.com. The relationship eventually led to phone conversations via cell phone and eventually he established a meeting time with the two girls, police said.

    According to the incident reports, Leonard proceeded to meet the girls at a local school and the three went into a wooded area together. Once they were in the area, Leonard proceeded to kiss and fondle both victims.

    Assistant State’s Attorney Louis Luba Jr. said that during investigations, Leonard indicated to police that he had believed the girls were actually 14 years old, stating that he was unaware of their actual age.

    This is the second time Leonard has been in trouble for possible involvement with a minor. He was scheduled to face charges of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor for what is believed to be a similar case in Tolland Superior Court today, but the case was continued until April 19 because of Tuesday’s arrest.

    Several facts stated in Leonard’s MySpace profile indicate that he has had several other established Internet relationships with females under the age of 18 as well. His site, which was last accessed by the user on Monday, contains a list of 17 friends, of which nearly a dozen are females registered as under the age of 18.

    In his profile, Leonard admits to being a CCSU student from New Britain, but claims to be only 18 years old himself. His actual age is 22.

    So, telling the cops you thought they were 14 makes it right? For someone so dumb, how did you get into college?

    And Mr. A brings us Davey’s MySpace profile. Nothing is funnier than reading the comments of a MySpace creeper when his friends find out that he’s been busted.

  • Letavec pleads not guilty

    MySpace suspect pleads not guilty of sex with teen:

    One of our earliest inductees to the Rogues Gallery, Stephen M. Letavec, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of traveling across state lines to molest a 14-year-old girl in Conn. that he met through MySpace. But here’s where it gets weird…

    He has been in custody since his arrest in Pennsylvania in February. The teenage girl’s mother and a girlfriend met Letavec and even welcomed him into their homes.

    The girlfriend’s mother allegedly allowed him to spend 13 hours with the alleged victim and her daughter in their home while the mother wasn’t there, according to court documents.

    Huh?

    What parent would let their 14-year-old daughter be befriended by a 39-year-old father of four that she met on MySpace?

    His MySpace has since been deleted and the cache has expired, however the always intrepid Mr. A has a mirror of it here.

    Mr. A also found this, where Letavec offers some kind of defense, stating that the girl claimed she was 18, and he was trying to help her out with family problems. Surprisingly, I’ve had commenters leave comments on my site about another man accused of traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor, who said the exact same thing.

    Will this become the MySpace molester’s mantra? That remains to be seen.

  • I’m from the government and I’m here to help

    I’m from the government and I’m here to help

    Blumenthal Asks MySpace To Make Site Safer For Kids:

    Why are most politicians so clueless?…

    HARTFORD, Conn. — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has sent MySpace.com a letter asking the company to take steps to make the site safer for children.

    He is asking them to provide parents with software to block the Web site, ban kids under 16, institute new measures against pornography and take other steps to protect children from sexual predators and inappropriate material.

    Has Attorney General Blumenthal thought about asking parents to keep an eye on their own damn kids? MySpace has no responsibility to pay for software for the parents of teen MySpace users.

    I’m not surprised, though. An Attorney General is just another lawyer.

  • Mr. A Returns

    Mr. A Returns

    Mr. A comes through again. Only he’s not so mysterious anymore. Mr. A has his own site that is not unlike much this one. Where I focus on the criminals, Mr. A focuses mostly on the victims. You can visit his site here.

    Anyway, Mr. A has come through big time for the long coated one again. This time he sent me a cached MySpace profile of one Stephen M. Letavec, the father of two from Elrama, Pa. who molested a 14-year-old girl in his car while in Conn.

    Welcome to the Rogues Gallery Steve.

  • Four time loser

    Four time loser

    Man to answer sex with minor charges from four towns:

    This scumbag has been arrested FOUR times in four different towns for trying to solicit young girls…

    NEW BRITAIN — The Berlin man arrested for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with an underage Bristol girl he met through a Web site is scheduled to answer to the charges in Superior Court today.

    Kevin Karbownik, 21, of Berlin has been arrested in four towns since December. He was first arrested by police in that town, who alleged the man picked up the 13-year-old Bristol youth and brought her back to Berlin to have sex. At that time, Karbownik was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

    Karbownik was also arrested by both Plainville and Bristol detectives in late January and charged with a combined 10 counts each of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor and one count of using a computer to entice a minor.

    On March 1, Karbownik was arrested by Farmington police officers who, after a lengthy investigation, alleged he brought the same 13-year-old “victim” to a construction site in town to continue their sexual relationship.

    According to police records, though the relationship was probably consensual, the girl is only 13 years old and by law she is too young to consent to sex. Therefore, she is viewed as a victim in these cases.

    According to the investigation reports from the various police departments, Karbownik met the girl on the Internet site MySpace.com in August. Soon afterward, according to records, the two engaged in at least 20 sexual encounters until Karbownik’s first arrest in December.

    I hope he gets a rather extended stay in the “pokey”.

  • Grand Jury Indictments in Conn. Molestations

    Grand Jury Indictments in Conn. Molestations

    Grand jury indicts pair in MySpace molestations:

    The two scumbags that were arrested in Conn. for two unrelated incidents of child molestation of girls they met through MySpace have been indicted by a grand jury…

    Stephen M. Letavec, a 39-year-old father of two from Elrama, Pa., is accused in a four-count indictment of using the Internet to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity and three counts of crossing state lines to engage in sexual conduct with a minor.

    Letavec, who is being detained without bond, faces up to 30 years and a $250,000 fine on each count.

    The second man, Sonny I. Szeto, 22, of Nashua, N.H., is accused of using the Internet to entice a minor into sexual activity and traveling across state lines to have illegal sexual activity with a minor.

    Szeto, a recent college graduate, is accused of sexually molesting an 11-year-old girl in her parents’ home while they were asleep upstairs. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on both charges.

    The fact that one of them is a father of two is more than disheartening.

  • MySpace gets ready to fight the law

    MySpace gets ready to fight the law

    In the wake of the two arrests in Conn. of two men who molested underage girls they met through MySpace, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is calling on MySpace to make changes to their site to make it safer for children.

    On the other hand, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe says “People who put themselves at risk on MySpace, DeWolfe said, would be doing so elsewhere.” Trench says they’re both right.

    On the one hand, as LilO pointed out, MySpace is horrible when it comes to enforcing their own Terms of Service. On the other hand, parents are doing a great disservice to their children by not checking up on what they’re posting on their MySpace.

    Once a happy medium can be finally met, then maybe MySpace will be safe for children. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for it.

    H/T to Stephen.