Tag: solicitation of a minor

  • Louisiana MySpace sting

    Santa’s Helpers child predator operation:

    This is a story about an internet sting that took place recently in Louisiana.

    In Acadia Myspace.com helped the Acadia parish sheriff’s department and the Attorney General’s office take alleged child predators off the street.

    Christopher Patton, Mark Whitney, Troy Kimble, and Robert Brenneman were arrested during the sting, which involved setting up fake Myspace profiles of underage girls to which the suspects allegedly responded and set up meetings.

    “There are a number of statutes that play. The person who exposes himself on his webcam has violated the law. The person who arranges to meet a child for sex is breaking the law. The person who asks for child porn has violated the law. The typical has violated all three.

    And it just wouldn’t be Christmas without the MySpace profiles of at least some of the suspects.

    I was able to find the MySpaces of Patton, Kimble, and Brenneman.

    Thanks to Kirk M. for the tip.

  • Jay Coffield sentenced

    MySpace Predator Sentenced:

    I originally posted about Jay Coffield here.

    JOLIET, Ill. — A man who used the popular, youth-oriented MySpace.com Web site to arrange a sexual tryst with an underage Naperville girl has been sentenced to two years and two months in prison for that crime.

    Will County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Rozak meted out the prison term to Jay D. Coffield, 44, of Morris, state’s attorney James Glasgow confirmed Monday in a written statement.

    Coffield pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of indecent solicitation of a child. The allegation stemmed from his efforts earlier this year to arrange a sexual rendezvous with a 14-year-old Naperville girl.

    The girl’s 21-year-old cousin contacted Naperville police Detective Rich Wistocki on May 22, after discovering “inappropriate comments” directed at the teenager on the girl’s MySpace page, Glasgow said.

    “Taking a page from the online watchdog group Perverted Justice, this amateur sleuth set up her own undercover account online and began talking to Coffield online,” Glasgow said of the girl’s cousin.

    She then turned her account and other information over to Wistocki, the Naperville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Unit investigator, Glasgow said.

    Wistocki, posing as the teenager, continued corresponding with Coffield, who used the MySpace screen name of Mistercee42.

    Coffield ultimately suggested the girl meet him the evening of June 9 in a coffee shop near 95th Street and Route 59 on Naperville’s far southwest side. He indicated he would then take her to DuPage River Park, near Royce Road and Naper Boulevard on the city’s far southeast side, where they would have sex, police said in June.

    Coffield arrived at the coffee shop around 6:15 p.m. and was arrested immediately. Coffield, who had no criminal record at the time, told police it was the first time he had tried to arrange a meeting with a girl he had chatted with over the Internet.

    “No longer an anonymous Internet surfer looking for vulnerable children, Jay Coffield now will have a public prison sentence and his face online among other Illinois registered sex offenders,” Glasgow said.

    “Instead of just picking up the pieces after a child has been violated, we were able to expose and punish a predator before a child’s life was tragically affected.”

  • Mountie busted for luring kids online

    Trial date set for cop:

    A two-day trial has been set for the former Langley RCMP officer accused in attempting to lure children through the popular teen website, Nexopia.

    Adam Johnathon Clarke will stand trial on two counts of child luring on June 21 and 22, 2007.

    The 23-year-old former officer, who now lives in Newfoundland, was charged on May 19, 2006 after a three-month investigation.

    Clarke had allegedly been using one of the Langley Community Police Office’s computers to access the Internet and browse the site.

    The Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit (IICE) conducted the investigation in relation to viewing and possession of child pornography, and arrested him on June 5.

    According to Cpl. Diane Blain, it is believed that there are two victims involved.

    I guess in this case RCMP stands for Really Creepy Mangy Pedophile.

    No disrespect intended to the real men and woman of the RMCP.

  • Matthew Cogburn

    They’re still showing up:

    It seems that Dateline NBC had another one of their “To Catch A Predator” episodes tonight. I missed it because I wasn’t home. However, a reader by the name of Big Boss tipped me off to one of the guys they exposed…

    Another man who despite seeing our previous broadcasts is willing to take the risk of showing up at a stranger’s house to possibly have sex with a minor.

    He’s 22-year-old Matthew Cogburn- yesterday was his birthday. He’s here to meet a decoy pretending to be a 14-year-old.

    This clean cut all-American looking man has a MySpace page where he says “Jesus rocks” and lists god as his number one hero. But when he goes into a Yahoo chat room, he seems like another person. His chat with a girl he thinks is 14 is so graphic, much of it can’t be shown. He does ask the decoy if her house is secluded so if they use the jacuzzi, “you can moan and squeal all you want.”

    Matthew Cogburn (hidden camera footage): Nice house.

    Decoy: Thank you. Did you have a hard time getting here?

    Cogburn: Well the road that I was looking for didn’t show up.

    Hansen: Why don’t you have a seat there, and get comfortable for a minute

    Cogburn: I had a feeling this was going to happenHansen: You had a feeling what was going to happen?

    Cogburn: Is this the national news thing. The national news all that stuff?

    Hansen: NBC? You mean like Dateline NBC?

    Cogburn: Yeah.

    Hansen: What was your plan here today?

    Cogburn: I don’t. I can’t answer that as I want to because I’ve been in a struggle with myself on what I want, ’cause I’m still a virgin and a just, and it’s stupid that I did this.

    Hansen: How old are you?

    Cogburn: 22

    Hansen: And how old was the girl you were chatting with on line?

    Cogburn: The girl said she was 13 or 14.

    Hansen: 13 or 14? And you thought that it would be okay to come over here and visit a young girl home alone?

    Cogburn: I wanted it, I wanted to think it was okay, but I guess (he shrugs his shoulders)

    Hansen: Now, I’m looking at this chat log here. Sixteen minutes into this discussion you ask if she can do ‘deep throat’. Explain that to me.

    Cogburn: No reason to explain it.

    Hansen: No reason to explain it. (reading from chat) “How do you feel about sex?” “You on birth control?” or “Are you sticking with condoms?” “you got toys”?

    Cogburn: is there any ah

    Hansen: Well I want you to square that with what’s on your MySpace Website where you talk about “Jesus rocks.”


    You’ll hear more about this man’s inner struggle after he’s in police custody.

    And thanks to Big Boss we have Cogburn’s MySpace. His MySpace username is “crazyforchristcoggy”. It seems he’s crazier for underage girls.

  • 25 hours on a bus

    Michigan Man Busted During MySpace Rondevous:

    (CBS4) KEENE, N.H. A Michigan man is under arrest after he traveled to New Hampshire to allegedly meet someone he thought was 14-year-old boy he met online. That 14-year-old boy turned out to be Keene Detective Jim McLaughlin.

    Jeremy Dale Stewart, 28, had been talking with the detective for two months. According to McLaughlin, Stewart was using MySpace.com to find teens.

    Officials say Stewart traveled about 25 hours on a bus to meet up with the teen in Keene. Prior to the arranged meeting, McLaughlin said Stewart would send photos and love notes.

    When Stewart was met by police at the bus station in Keene, officials say he was taken into custody without incident. When police told him he was under arrest, Stewart apparently told them he was there on vacation.

    I wasn’t able to find a definitive MySpace for Stewart but I guess he won’t be needing that round-trip ticket.

  • Fort Drum soldier pleads guilty

    Soldier pleads guilty to arranging tryst with teen using MySpace:

    I originally talked about Jason Benge here

    A Fort Drum soldier charged with soliciting teens for sex using the popular website MySpace.com plead guilty to all charges this morning in Jefferson County court.

    27-year-old Jason Scott Benge of Flower Avenue East plead guilty to charges of Criminal Solicitation in the 3rd degree and Attempted Rape in the 3rd degree. Benge used the website MySpace.com to arrange a meeting with what he thought was a 15-year-old teen and her 16-year-old friend for purposes of engaging in sexual activity with him and his girlfriend. The teen he believed he was propositioning was actually Detective Steven C. Cote of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

    Sentencing for Benge is scheduled for October 27th. He was released on his own recognizance.

    His MySpace has since been deleted.

  • Nick Govind waives hearing

    Accused Internet solicitor waives right:

    Recently I told you about some “gentlemen” that were arrested for trying to solicit underage girls on craigslist. One of them, Nilesh “Nick” Govind, has decided to get things over with…

    REDWOOD CITY  Opting to go straight to trial, a San Carlos man accused of using the Internet to solicit teen girls for sex waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
    Nilesh “Nick” Govind, 28, is charged with one count of attempting to commit a lewd act with a minor.

    A local parent tipped off police to the ad, prompting Belmont police to set up a sting operation on March 10. It was during that sting operation that Govind allegedly offered a Belmont police investigator  who he thought was a 15-year-old girl named Amber  $200 in exchange for performing specific sex acts.

    Govind has no known prior arrests and is not a registered sex offender, police said.

    Govind was released from custody on a $75,000 bail bond. He will return to court on Sept. 12 for his superior court arraignment.

    If convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison.

    I could almost respect him because it sounds like he’s owning up to his crime if it wasn’t for the fact that he was trying to solicit underage girls.

     

  • Predators use craigslist

    Police target online predators:

    Did they really think this would work?

    REDWOOD CITY — Recent arrests of online predators using the Internet to solicit teens for sex has local law enforcement agencies advising parents to keep tabs on their children while they are surfing the World Wide Web.

    San Carlos resident Nilesh “Nick” Govind, 28; San Jose resident Julio Cesar Barbery, 25; and Pacifica resident James John Koch, Jr., 48, have all recently been arrested on charges of attempting to solicit sex from teenage girls over the Internet.

    Nilesh Govind allegedly placed an ad on the Craigslist.org Web site offering money to “Carlmont/Notre Dame” high school girls willing to meet him and be his “girlfriend” for an hour, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

    A local parent tipped off police to the ad in early March, prompting the Belmont Police Department to set up a sting operation on March 10. It was during that sting operation that Govind allegedly offered a Belmont police investigator, who he thought was a 15-year-old girl named Amber, $200 in exchange for performing specific sex acts.

    It was an anonymous informant who led San Mateo County sheriff’s investigators to a Craigslist ad titled “Daddy seeking young girl right now,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed by San Mateo County Sheriff’s Det. Jacqueline Chong.

    According to the affidavit, the informant visited the “Casual Encounters” section of Craigslist after watching a television news special dealing with sexual predators on the Internet.

    From late June to July 5, the adult informant, who identified herself as a 17-year-old girl named Natalie, traded e-mails with the ad’s alleged author, James Koch. In a series of e-mails Koch allegedly told Natalie he wanted to meet her, forwarding descriptions of the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the girl. He reportedly sent the informant photos of his face and his body from the waist down, according to the affidavit.

    The informant later told Koch that Natalie was only 15, however, once reassured that Natalie was not a police officer, Koch agreed to meet her. Koch was arrested July 6 at the Vista rest stop off Interstate Highway 280 in San Carlos while allegedly waiting to meet Natalie.

    It was on March 29 that Menlo Park police officers arrested Julio Barbery after he allegedly engaged in a sexual conversation over the Internet with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl, according to San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Greg Devitt.

    Who knew that you could find pedophiles in the classifieds?

     

  • Jason Benge

    Jefferson County Sheriff: Ft. Drum Soldier Used MySpace to Solicit Teens for Sex:

    Here we go again…

    Jefferson County (WSYR-TV) – A 27-year-old Fort Drum soldier thought he was meeting up for sex with a teen, but he was arrested by an undercover Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy instead.

    27-year-old Jason Scott Benge of Flower Avenue East is charged with third degree attempted rape and third degree criminal solicitation.

    The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department says Benge used MySpace.com to setup a meeting with a 15-year-old and her 16-year-old friend for sex. Benge didn’t know, however, that the 15-year-old was a detective with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. Benge allegedly sent explicit emails to the fake teen. Some were also sent from Ft. Drum, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Fort Drum Military Police helped in the investigation.

    Benge was arrested when he tried to meet up with the fake teen, by the Sheriff’s Department.

    He has been sent to the Jefferson County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

    Apparently, someone either set up a fake MySpace or vandalized Benge’s MySpace. Because it now says “I’m in jail because i’m a sick pervert!!!”. Ex-girlfriend perhaps?

  • Neil Jaramillo a.k.a. Schnail

    MySpace used to `lure’ girl, 13:

    This one was all Mr. A

    He advertised himself on MySpace.com as a “gay Toronto boy” who is a “sweet person” and easy to talk to, but police allege “Schnail” was an online sexual predator who traded child porn and convinced a 13-year-old small-town Ontario girl to perform sex acts on her webcam.

    After laying four charges last week against the 23-year-old man, police added four more yesterday, including Internet luring and making child pornography. It appears to be the first case in Canada involving MySpace and an alleged sexual predator.

    The short, heavy-set man who police allege is “Schnail” appeared for a bail hearing yesterday at the Old City Hall courthouse. He was granted release if his bail conditions are met and he is to return to court July 20.

    Police say they tracked the man down on MySpace, a free website that allows users to customize their own Web pages, with pictures and a “friends list,” links to their profiles and other personal information they wish to post.

    In the Toronto case, police allege “Schnail” set up a profile on MySpace and exchanged information with dozens of other users. The 13-year-old girl from southwestern Ontario first made contact with him through a friend, who had the profile on MySpace.

    The friend listened to, and liked, some of his musical postings. On his profile, “Schnail” says he plays guitar and loves Nirvana. In the “detail” section of his profile, he says he is “here for dating, serious relationships, friends,” of which he counted 27, according to his online links.

    The path that led police to “Schnail” is a confusing and complicated web of make-believe identities and other falsehoods, and is a lesson not just to the young people who use the Internet but also to those who assume their misdeeds will go undetected in cyberspace.

    It began after a 45-year-old Montana man named Jimmy Dean Carpenter was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison for sexually abusing three girls, ages 7, 13 and 14.

    He also documented his sick exploits, capturing pornographic images and distributing them online.

    Police allege one recipient was “Schnail,” who believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl when it was actually Carpenter, who sent several images of himself with the 13-year-old in December 2003. In two of the images, she was holding a sign stating: “This is for Schnail,” police say.

    Using the email address taken from Carpenter’s computer, investigators with the Toronto sex crimes unit then posed as two adolescent girls, one 12, the other 13, to make contact with “Schnail.”

    Police allege he then sent one officer five child pornographic images, that of the Ontario girl, who is now 15, unaware that “Schnail,” who claimed to be 20, was saving the images, said Det. Const. Chris Purchas of the unit’s child exploitation section.

    Police allege “Schnail” sent the pictures to coax the officer into posing on a webcam, to show “we should do this … (it’s) normal. Here’s proof.”

    Claiming to be gay is another ruse commonly used, Purchas said, since it suggests he is a “safe” contact.

    Purchas said the girl’s mother was devastated to find out her daughter had been talked into posing for pictures on her webcam. He said he worries parents don’t fully realize the dangers that exist on the Internet.

    Neil David Jaramillo, 23, was arrested last Wednesday at his parents’ home in Toronto.

    He was initially charged with luring a child under 14, invitation to sexual touching, possession of child pornography and distributing child pornography. Yesterday he was charged with four additional child-porn offences.

    In Mr. A’s own words here is the “gay” Neil Jaramillo, and here is the “straight” Neil Jaramillo.