The MySpace Nightmare

Try this little experiment. Go to MySpace and when the page loads, look for the word “search” at the top, left-hand part of the screen. Click on it.

When that page loads, look for the “MySpace Search” area. Type the name of your city or community in the search box and click search.

Sit back and browse the search results. Be prepared for a bit of a surprise. Browse around the pages for awhile and then think to yourself; “What if I were a child predator” You can almost picture an Internet predator drooling over his keyboard at all those profiles…… and addresses…… and pictures…….
When I first tried this experiment, I found a 14 year old with his address posted that lives less than a half a mile from my house. His parents had no idea!
I hope you don’t have nightmares from this little experiment but it just goes to show just how vulnerable kids are today. Protect them by knowing what they are doing.

Florida Man Accused of Hawaii Rape
A reasonably innocent conversation on a computer chat line ended in a traumatic experience for a 15-year-old Oahu girl. The girl told police she met 33-year-old Anthony Waterman of Florida in a Yahoo.com chat room.
He flew to Hawaii and invited her to his rented room in Kaneohe, then raped her.
Sexual predators no longer jump out from behind bushes or shadowy buildings. They find their victims in their own homes.
Prevention is the key for parents to protect their kids.

Man Who Works With Children Arrested for Sex Crime
A man who works with kids involved in sex crimes is now accused of a sex crime himself.
He was arrested in the Salt Lake area last night for attempting to meet with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex. The two met in an online chat room.
He was probably just trying to keep the kids safe........

Man charged with luring Terrace girl
POLICE ARE warning parents of the dangers lurking for children on the Internet after a teenage boy from Kitimat was charged after having a sexually explicit conversation with a pre-teen Terrace girl in an Internet chat room last week.
Terrace RCMP arrested 18-year-old Lionel Smith in Terrace after the 11-year-old girl reported the chat room incident to her parents Nov. 13.
The young man was released on strict conditions including no unsupervised contact with any person under the age of 14, not to possess or access any computer........ Hmmm Maybe that's the ticket!

Dalton man admits sexual assault on boy
A 42-year-old Dalton man will spend one to three years behind bars after he admitted yesterday that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy in January 2005 after meeting him on the Internet. Good Place for him!
The boy had been corresponding with Burke in an Internet chat room, and Burke made arrangements to meet at the boy's home in Pittsfield on the night of Jan. 10, 2005, according to Caccaviello. Burke showed up after the boy's parents left the house and engaged in sexual activity with the teenager, Caccaviello said.
The boy's parents called for help after they returned home and discovered Burke hiding in their son's bedroom.....
How would you like to come home to find that situation? The parents could have caught it a lot sooner with an Internet monitoring program.

Teacher-coach charged with online solicitation
A Detroit middle school teacher and youth travel hockey coach was charged Monday with attempting to solicit a 13-year-old boy in an online chat room.
Fawkes is a seventh-grade science teacher at Columbus Middle School in Detroit and is head coach of a Plymouth-Canton Hockey Association midget-level (ages 15-16) travel hockey team.
He was charged with using a computer to accost and solicit a minor and with using a computer to disseminate sexually explicit matter to a minor.
"It is particularly disturbing when those who are placed in positions of trust are accused of committing sex crimes against children," Cox said.
It is very disturbing when teachers and coaches of our children are caught trying to solicit our children - Very Disturbing........

Man who contacted 14-year-old via Internet gets probation, year in jail
A Lahaina man who initiated contact with a 14-year-old girl on the Internet, eventually persuading her to go with him to a secluded Spreckelsville road, was ordered to spend a year in jail in a hearing Friday in 2nd Circuit Court.
“You are every parent’s worst nightmare – the one who will take advantage,” Judge Richard Bissen told 24-year-old Eugene S. Reyes. “You may not see it that way, but I do.”
Well said Judge - they are a nightmare!

Librarian charged with luring 'child' on Internet
A 45-year-old university librarian was arrested Thursday morning and charged with luring a young girl over the Internet, Peel Region Police say.
The man, who is the chief law librarian at York University, is alleged to have had a number of sexually explicit conversations in an online chat room with a 12-year-old girl, police said.
What would a librarian want witha 12-year-old girl.......

Teacher Arrested For Attempted Internet Child Seduction
WAVE 3 Investigates the arrest of a local middle school teacher. He is also a former priest, and he's charged with trying to seduce a child over the internet.
59 year old Ronald Boorman was arrested at JCPS headquarters Wednesday morning for seduction of a child using a computer.
Investigators say they weren't surprised with who they had.
"We take people from all walks of life from professionals to teachers to doctors to priests," said Sgt. Greg Stewart.
He was a teacher and a former priest - I have to wonder what happened to his priesthood.....

Kentucky man convicted in porn case involving Arkansas teen
A former law enforcement officer convicted of sexually exploiting a 14-year-old Arkansas girl he met on the Internet is to be sentenced in December.
Wise, 38, a locksmith and former Clark County sheriff's deputy, was convicted by a federal jury Thursday of traveling out of state to have sex with a minor, transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of having sex with her, lying to a federal officer and possession of child pornography.
Wise traveled to Arkansas three times. On one of those trips, the two had sex at an Arkansas hotel. On the third trip, in January, Wise brought the girl to Kentucky with him.
This man was a former Law Enforcement officer! Again, you can't trust anyone with your kids!