TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: sex-offenders

  • Texas nets 14 MySpace SOs

    Dallas-Fort Worth area sex offenders using MySpace arrested:

    Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is bragging that 14 Texas sex offenders were caught violating parole by using MySpace. He says that part rather proudly.

    Mr. Abbott called Web sites like MySpace a “lions’ den” for sexual predators who use them “literally looking for the person they can next victimize.”

    I bet he said the next part really really quiet.

    Mr. Abbott said, however, that “there was no evidence” that the 14 people arrested last month had used MySpace to locate potential victims. Instead, all 14 were arrested after using the Internet, a violation of their parole.

    While I’m happy that 14 sex offenders are off the streets Mr. Abbot falls into the same category as his contemporaries from Connecticut, North Carolina, and New York. Instead of demonizing sites like MySpace how about doing something about the parents that allow their kids unfettered access to the internet. Oh, that’s right, because they’re the ones who vote. You wouldn’t want to piss them off, would you?

  • Conn. AG turns to Facebook

    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.

  • 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.

  • 7 Texas sex offenders found on MySpace

    7 Texas sex offenders found on MySpace

    7 sex offenders who use MySpace arrested:

    With the information provided to the Texas Attorney General by MySpace, seven Texas sex offenders were arrested for being on MySpace.

    In Houston, officials arrested Patrick Joseph Blevins, 49; Reginald Lee Collins, 27; Ronald Daven Metoyer, 41; and Robert Shepard Walter, 23. Walter was also charged last month with failing to register as a sex offender.

    Scott Peter Hansen, 44, was arrested in Glenn Heights, a Dallas suburb. Information on his incarceration or attorney were not immediately available late Thursday.

    Jason Labronte Carr, 31, was taken into custody in Austin. A Travis County jail official said Thursday night she did not have access to information on Carr’s attorney of record.

    Jeremy Bryan Polak, 28, a parole violator accused of failing to register as a sex offender, was arrested in Round Rock, an Austin suburb. A Williamson County jail official said his records did not include Polak’s attorney of record.

    The really creepy thing is when I was looking for their MySpaces, I found a bunch with the same names that had varying ages. One had several different profiles that were attributed to his name and location that had different teenage ages.

    Thanks to Shyloh for the tip.

  • What does Australia know that the US doesn’t?

    What does Australia know that the US doesn’t?

    MySpace hands over known sex offenders; how many unknown?:

    One of the problems I’ve had with all the blustering from state attorneys general about MySpace is what are the AGs doing about the predators that haven’t been caught yet? I never see anyone in the American media asking that question, yet the Australian media has no problem seeing the same problems that I do.

    MySpace, with 180 million registered profiles and still growing, is possibly the world’s largest social networking phenomenon. The US with a population approaching 300 million has an estimated 600,000 registered sex offenders and quite possibly some multiple of that who are unknown and unregistered. This then begs the question of how many unregistered sex offenders and potential would be predators still have profiles on the MySpace site.

    In most places, there are more criminals at large than in jails. If MySpace truly is a virtual representation of the physical world, then it stands to reason that wiping the profiles of 7,000 known sex criminals may well be just lopping off the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, that is not the case.

    Yet, we still don’t hear what the AGs are doing to keep sex offenders off the streets. Personally, I just hear them pointing the finger at MySpace. Maybe they should clean up their own “house” first before worrying about MySpace.

  • MySpace caves to AGs

    MySpace caves to AGs

    MySpace in deal with 8 state attorneys general:

    If you haven’t heard by now, MySpace has acquiesced to the 8 state attorneys general asking for all the information MySpace has on each state’s sex offenders. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no interest in protecting SOs. However, I do have a problem with politicians putting on a big show and pointing the finger at something that’s not the problem while preying on the fears of uninformed voters.

    For example…

    But some attorneys general urged the company to take more actions to protect minors.

    “While conveying this information to us is a good first step, MySpace needs to do more, including implementing an effective age verification system that will make the site considerably safer,” Ohio AG Marc Dann said in a statement.

    I say parents need to do more to keep their underage kids off of MySpace. I say that Attorneys general need to do more to keep sex offenders behind bars. Unfortunately, talk like that doesn’t get AG’s re-elected.

    Thanks to Pat for the link.

  • MySpace refuses AGs’ requests

    MySpace refuses AGs’ requests

    MySpace won’t release list of sex offenders to states:

    In a follow-up to my post about 8 attorneys general who have demanded that MySpace give up all their information about sex offenders using their site, MySpace has flatly denied the request.

    MySpace’s chief security officer said the company regularly discloses information to law enforcement officials but the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act says it can only do so through proper legal channels .

    Christian Genetski, an attorney who has represented MySpace, said the Electronic Communications Privacy Act requires subpoenas, court orders, or search warrants.

    Um…aren’t attorneys general supposed to be knowledgeable of the law? Then why did MySpace’s lawyers just give them the legal smackdown?

  • AGs pressure MySpace for info

    AGs pressure MySpace for info

    8 States Seek Sex Offender Data From MySpace:

    Attorneys General from eight states, including North Carolina’s Roy Cooper and Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, sent what I’m sure is a strongly worded letter to MySpace demanding they turn over sex offender information.

    In a letter, the attorneys general asked MySpace to provide information on how many registered sex offenders are using the site, and where they live. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper signed the letter, along with attorneys general from Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

    In a statement, Cooper’s office said media outlets in 2006 “reported almost 100 criminal incidents across the country involving adults who used MySpace to prey or attempt to prey on children.”

    In December, MySpace announced it was partnering with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to build a database with information on sex offenders in the United States. Software to identify and remove sex offenders from the site was launched in early May, MySpace officials said Monday in a statement.

    “It is our understanding that the data from Sentinel reveals that thousands of known sex offenders have been confirmed as MySpace members,” the letter said.

    In an interview, Cooper said the information was provided by “absolutely credible” sources, whom he declined to identify.

    This is how I imagine the press conference in Raleigh went…

    AG Cooper: It is our understanding that the data from Sentinel reveals that thousands of known sex offenders have been confirmed as MySpace members.

    Reporter: Who provided you that information?

    AG Cooper: Um…a guy.

    Here’s a thought. Rather than having MySpace do your work for you, why don’t you keep better track of your sex offenders? Especially you, Mr. Blumenthal. Connecticut seems to have a serious problem with SOs if this site is any indication.

    While you’re at it, why don’t you keep them behind bars longer?

  • California drafts pointless legislation

    California drafts pointless legislation

    Netting predators:

    Add California to the list of states who are drafting meaningless legislation concerning MySpace and sex offenders.

    The proposal calls for California to require registered sex offenders to report their e-mail addresses and Internet identities to the state, which would make them available to MySpace and other social networks to block participation.

    “It is not a divine right that someone who is a registered sex offender should have access to a chat room of 15-year-olds,” said Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge.

    Portantino and Republican Assemblywoman Shirley Horton of San Diego are pushing Assembly Bill 841 in conjunction with MySpace, a massive, virtual community that enables users to share profiles, photos and e-mail.

    Opponents of the bill are claiming everything from free speech infringement to additional punishment for sex offenders who have already served their term.

    Forgive me for being a cold bastard, but I don’t really care about the rights of sex offenders. SOs have the highest recidivism rate among all criminals.

    However, like I’ve said before, this legislation is meaningless if the SOs use fake e-mail addresses and still does nothing about SOs that haven’t been caught yet.

  • More ineffective legislation

    More ineffective legislation

    MySpace and Kentucky Sex Offenders:

    Put Kentucky down as another state that is deluded into thinking that sex offenders are going to comply with registering their online identities.

    Tuesday afternoon at the capital rotunda, the state met with a MySpace official to put an end to this ongoing problem with the help of a new measure called Senate Bill 65.

    The new law, requires sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses on-line.

    However if a sex offenders gives authorities a fraudulent e-mail address they will be sent back to jail.

    The new law will also help sites like MySpace cross-reference Kentucky’s sex offender registry with their own data base.

    I hate to sound like a broken record or a skipping CD for that matter, but this law is all bark and no bite. This will not stop sex offenders from using fraudulent e-mails. The threat of jail rarely stops sex offenders as it is. And again, this does nothing about the sex offenders who have never been caught.

    Instead of making laws about MySpace, how about making laws that keep sex offenders in jail longer?

    Thanks to Jessica for the link.