TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: MySpace

  • Give it up already Roy

    Give it up already Roy

    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.

  • NC MySpace bill fails

    NC MySpace bill fails

    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.

  • Punta Gorda PD make a different kind of arrest

    Punta Gorda PD make a different kind of arrest

    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.

  • Canada’s sex offenders not affected by purge

    Canada’s sex offenders not affected by purge

    MySpace kicks out sex offenders — but not in Canada:

    This is a great article from Canada.com that explains while 29,000 registered U.S. sex offenders were located and removed from MySpace’s userbase, no such purge will happen in Canada.

    “We can’t even work with any private companies or law-enforcement agencies because we simply can’t get hold of the data,” said John Cardillo, CEO of Sentinel Tech, who said predators are more free to use Canadian social networking sites to lure young victims.

    The public does not have access to the national sex offender registry — a database that provides Canadian police services with information to investigate crimes of a sexual nature.

    “When the bad guys have to cover their tracks, they get caught,” Cardillo said, who added it was only in May that MySpace began to use his Sentinel Tech’s technology, after signing a seven-figure deal reached with MySpace’s owners, News Corp.

    But because Canada’s federal government has not publicly released the names of registered sex offenders, those people are able to travel on the information highway, virtually undetected, Cardillo said. “We can’t see who they are so we can’t see where they are.”

    I’d like to hear from Canadians on whether or not they think the sex offender registry should be made public.

  • Media fueling MySpace hysteria

    Media fueling MySpace hysteria

    Sexual predator gets close to his target on MySpace:

    The headline is kind of misleading, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

    30-year-old Andre Johnson of Eastlake, Ohio was already on probation for improper sexual conduct with a 14-year-old. Apparently, that wasn’t enough of a deterrent. He’s now accused of breaking into the bedroom of another 14-year-old girl and raping her.

    He denies that the sex was rape, but admits he was so drunk and high that he barely remembers the evening.

    Like that makes it better.

    And here’s where MySpace comes into play.

    The two originally met through the teen’s older sister, but detectives say the relationship was further established by chatting back and forth on MySpace.

    So while Mr. Johnson is a grade A scumbag and deserves everything he gets, MySpace was barely involved in this incident and was not the conduit for this predator to meet his victim.

    Sensationalistic journalism at its worst.

  • Shefelbine’s father has charges increased

    Shefelbine’s father has charges increased

    Shefelbine Charge Changed:

    David Shefelbine, the father of alleged serial predator Scott Shefelbine, had his charges increased for assaulting a Connecticut news reporter.

    During his brief arraignment Tuesday in the same court in Rockville, David Shefelbine said nothing as Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth C. Leaming increased the charge he faces to third-degree assault. Lori Beth Leavitt, Shefelbine’s attorney, entered a routine not guilty plea and a request for a jury trial.

    Shefelbine the elder is accused of punching reporter Erin Cox after she asked him to comment on his son’s bail being revoked.

    Maybe father and son will have adjoining cells.

  • The 29,000

    The 29,000

    29,000 sex offenders found on MySpace:

    It has been confirmed by MySpace that there are in fact 29,000 registered sex offenders on MySpace. My apologies to AG Roy Cooper of North Carolina for saying that he pulled that number out of thin air. Mr. Cooper’s New England counterpart, Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal, is stating that the number was provided to him by top MySpace officials. MySpace is still declining to comment.

    If there are 29,000 registered sex offenders on MySpace that are stupid enough to use their real names, I can only imagine how many are on there that are flying below the radar. Not to mention the predators that are on there that have never been caught.

    However, I still don’t think that more legislation is the answer. What is needed is more vigilant parenting. Parents need more education on how to navigate MySpace and how to check up on their kids’ MySpaces.

    We can’t allow the government to raise our children.

  • AG Cooper strikes again

    AG Cooper strikes again

    Cooper cracks down on predators:

    The North Carolina Attorney General is up to his old tricks again. Putting unreal expectations on MySpace and allowing parents to continue to shirk their responsibility.

    The rules on how children use social networking sites like MySpace.com could soon be changing.

    State lawmakers are working on a bill that would require parents to give permission before their children use those type of Web sites. North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper will testify before a House committee Tuesday about the need for tougher laws.

    Cooper says online sites are a playground for predators, citing that as of this July, more than 29,000 registered sex offenders have been found using MySpace.com and that’s jut those who are using their real names.

    I think he got that number from the Department of Pulling Things out of Your Ass. That’s the first I’ve heard the 29K figure. According to this article, 29,000 is what Cooper is claiming that MySpace has told him. MySpace has yet to confirm.

    MySpace.com is currently open only to users age 14 or older, but the company doesn’t perform any kind of verification. Cooper wants social networking sites to require parents’ permission before children can join, including procedures to verify the parents’ identity and age.

    Again, he doesn’t tell us how he expects MySpace to do that.

    “It wont’ be a perfect system. Just like any other kind of age verification system, you’ve got kids who fake driver’s licenses, you’ve got kids who fake their age to get into an R-rated movie,” Cooper said. “Those kinds of things are going to happen on the Internet as well, but the key is to put a barrier up to better protect kids on the Internet and we think this will be important.”

    Except it’s not against the law to sneak into an R rated movie. And isn’t that up to the parents to make sure their underage kids don’t see R rated movies?

    If passed, Senate Bill 132 would also ban North Carolina sex offenders from social networking sites, enhance the criminal penalty for soliciting minors for sex over the Internet and expand the law regarding child pornography to include indecent exposure.

    I’d like to see how they’re going to keep SOs off sites like MySpace. Enhancing the penalty for child solicitation isn’t going to stop predators from approaching kids. It may even put kids more at danger.

    On the next election day, Attorney General Cooper’s slogan should be “Long on ideas. Short on solutions.”

  • Werribee teens plead guilty

    Werribee teens plead guilty

    Werribee DVD youths plead guilty, avoid jail:

    Seven of the teens from Werribee, Australia who filmed themselves sexually assaulting a mildly developmentally challenged girl have pleaded guilty. If you remember, the suspects also sold the DVD, entitled C*nt: The Movie, to their classmates over MySpace. Let me refresh your memory…

    The DVD was shot in June last year when the 17-year-old girl, who has mild developmental delay, was taken by the youths to the edge of the Werribee River.

    It includes footage of the sexual act, of men urinating on the girl and throwing a cup of urine on her. It also shows them setting her hair alight three times.

    They throw her top and jacket into the river and tell her: “You’re walking home topless.”

    You would think the judge would throw the book at them. Not so. Since they have pleaded guilty, they will avoid any jail time and will be sent to an “adolescent sexual rehabilitation program”.

    Let’s hear from the judge…

    The judge said the youths’ guilty plea was a strong indication of their remorse.

    “The idea is that the defendants now have some rehabilitation and education in how not to treat women,” the judge said.

    Personally, I think the judge let them off way too easy. I think the only thing they’re remorseful about is that they got caught.

    However, I want to hear from my Aussie readers to see what they feel about the sentence. Is it enough?

    Thanks to Alan for the tip.

  • Shefelbine trial moved

    Shefelbine trial moved

    Shefelbine Cases Moved To Rockville:

    Everyone’s favorite repeat arrestee and all around creepy guy, Scott Shefelbine, is having two of his cases moved from Hartford to Rockville, CT. However, it’s not because of any change of venue requests.

    Judge Thomas P. Miano said that he was transferring the cases for administrative purposes to Rockville, where seven other cases are pending against Shefelbine. Miano said that the move did not preclude the defense from filing a change of venue motion.

    So Judge Miano is basically saying “Look here Slapnuts. Since you have seven other cases pending against you in Rockville, we’re going to let them have these two as well”. So, basically, Shefelbine only has to make one stop before he heads to the joint.

    Rockville may not be his last stop, though. His defense attorney may file a change of venue request due to all the pre-trial publicity. Maybe if her client’s father didn’t punch out a reporter, there wouldn’t be so much publicity.