TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: connecticut

  • 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.

  • MySpace to increase security

    MySpace to increase security

    MySpace Plans to Boost Security for Minors:

    In the wake of the Connecticut arrests of two predators who met underage girls through MySpace, MySpace chief executive Chris DeWolfe announced that MySpace will soon add technology to help prevent further crimes facilitated through MySpace. DeWolfe declined to give specifics on the technology but said an announcement would be made in the near future.

    No word if better parenting and common sense are among those measures.

  • Two molestations in Conn.

    Two molestations in Conn.

    Prosecutors: Men used MySpace to meet underage girls for sex:

    I am horrified by this article…

    Two men from Pennsylvania and New Jersey used the popular networking Web site MySpace.com to set up sexual encounters with underage Connecticut girls, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

    The two unrelated cases come after weeks in which the potential danger of MySpace has been a topic of discussion for law enforcement, parents and school officials nationwide.

    In one case, Sonny Szeto, 22, of Jersey City, N.J., traveled to Connecticut in October and molested an 11-year-old girl in her playroom while her parents slept upstairs, according to an FBI affidavit.

    In the other case, Stephen Letavec, 39, molested a 14-year-old Connecticut girl in his car while visiting from of Elrama, Pa., in October, according to another FBI report.

    Police in Middletown are investigating recent reports that as many as seven local girls were sexually assaulted by men in their 20s who contacted them through MySpace pretending to be teenagers.

    Emphasis mine.

    What the hell was an 11-year-old girl doing on the internet unsupervised, anyway?

    The internet is not someplace an 11-year-old girl needs to be wandering around aimlessly. Parents, if this isn’t a wake-up a call, I don’t know what is.