Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday – Lucky 7
Not so lucky for these sickos. It’s everyone’s favorite blog post – the weekly online predator round-up. This week we feature three new dirty old bastards that are the reasons behind parents needing to closely monitor and be wary of who their children talk to online. Monitoring software like PC Pandora can help you keep your kid safe from nasty pervs like this.
Cambria County Man Faces New Child Pornography Charges
June 20, 2008
HARRISBURG – A Cambria County man, who was arrested in December 2007 by agents from the Child Predator Unit, faces new charges as a result of forensic agents discovering multiple instances of child pornography on his computers.
Attorney General Tom Corbett said that Allen Stossel, 43, Hastings, was arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007 by agents from the Child Predator Unit. Agents also executed a search of Stossel’s home, seizing multiple computers and digital storage devices which were analyzed by the Attorney General’s Computer Forensics Unit as part of an ongoing investigation.
Corbett said as a result of the forensic examination, agents found six photographic images and fourteen videos which contained children under the age of 18 engaging in sexual activity.
According to the original criminal complaint in December of 2007, Stossel contacted what he thought was a 13-year-old girl and immediately attempted to determine if the agent was a child, commenting, “(I) don’t want to be on Dateline” – referring to a popular network television program that identifies online predators.
Corbett said that Stossel allegedly requested a photo of the girl, and transmitted his own photos in return – including a nude photo of male genitalia. During that initial chat Stossel also allegedly transmitted webcam images of himself masturbating, telling the girl, “man, you better not be a cop.”
Stossel is awaiting trial on the original charges of five counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a computer, all third-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.
The new charges, 20 counts of sexual abuse of children, which each carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, will be incorporated into the original case.
Stossel will be prosecuted in Cambria County by Deputy Attorney General Michael A. Sprow of the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit.
Arrest of Internet predator in Washington County
June 22, 2008
CANONSBURG – Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit have arrested a Lawrence County man accused of using the Internet to sexually proposition what he believed was a 13-year-old girl. The “girl” was actually an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit who was using the online profile of a child.
Corbett identified the defendant as Leroy Maloni, 69, 3511 State Route 208, Apt. 4, New Wilmington.
Corbett said that Maloni allegedly used an Internet chat room to approach an undercover agent on May 14, 2008, asking her detailed questions about her physical appearance, her manner of schooling and what she liked to do for “fun.”
Corbett said that Maloni allegedly continued to contact the girl online, eventually escalating the tone of the conversations and repeatedly expressing his desire to meet her for sex.
According to the criminal complaint, Maloni made arrangements to meet with the child at a place to be determined in Canonsburg on June 17, 2008 at around 10:00 am.
On June 17, at about 9:45 am, Maloni arrived at the pre-arranged meeting location driving a Dodge 4×4 pickup truck identical to the one that he had described to the child during their online conversations.
Maloni was arrested there in Canonsburg by agents from the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit, assisted by the Canonsburg Police Department.
Maloni is charged with one count of attempt of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
Maloni was preliminarily arraigned before Washington County Magisterial District Judge David Mark and is being held in lieu of $50,000 straight bail. Maloni was also ordered to undergo a behavioral clinic analysis and prohibited from using the Internet or having any unsupervised contact with minors. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 24.
Summer Danger – “Operation Summer Surf”
Corbett said that the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit has arrested 147 Internet predators since it was created in January 2005, including 30 arrests since the beginning of this year.
In May 2008, Corbett was joined by representatives from the Pennsylvania Parent Teacher Association, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals, to launch “Operation Summer Surf” – reminding parents and teens across Pennsylvania to regularly discuss online safety and remain vigilant this summer.
Corbett said that there was a notable increase in the number of Internet predators arrested by the Attorney General’s Office last summer – a total of 17 arrests between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2007, including men who traveled from as far away as Kentucky in order to have sexual contact with children. Corbett said the number of arrests in the summer of 2007 was nearly double the number of arrests from the previous summer.
Corbett added that undercover agents have reported an increase in the number of Internet predators questioning children about their summer vacation plans, or asking them about times where they may be home alone, as part of discussions about meeting the children or sending them sexually graphic videos.
Operation Summer Surf is an expansion of the Attorney General’s popular “Operation Safe Surf” Internet safety education program, which was created in October 2006 and has now reached nearly 140,000 children and adults from across the state.
Corbett said that today’s teens have grown up with the Internet and have never known a world without it, making “surfing” a part of their life that they often take for granted. Operation Summer Surf emphasizes that the same rules of Internet safety apply not just to September through June, but throughout the summer months as well.
“Predators will always be drawn to locations that give them the greatest access to the largest number of potential victims,” Corbett said. “Today, they stalk a variety of online sites, including chat rooms; social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook; Internet message boards; video game sites; and even online classified ads on Craigslist.com.”
Corbett noted that the techniques used by Internet predators change rapidly, spurred by developments in communication technology and changes in where and how children communicate online. He added that predators will communicate with children in many different ways, using public or private online chat rooms, instant message programs, text messages, email, cell phones and webcams.
“It is essential for parents to understand how quickly online conversations can progress from initial contact to sexually explicit content,” Corbett said. “Often, predators will begin a sexually graphic discussion within minutes of contacting a child, and many suspects transmit nude photos or explicit videos during their first online meeting.”
Corbett encouraged parents to discuss Internet safety with their children, including the danger of meeting strangers who approach them online. He also advised that parents ask their children to show them what they are doing online, setting ground rules for summer online communication to help kids use the Internet safely and in a responsible manner.
California man nabbed in local Internet sting
June 23, 2008 — By Jeff Lehr
A 42-year-old California man is the latest suspect caught by a former Diamond police chief who conducts stings of child-sex predators on the Internet.
Police in Glendale, Calif., arrested Rumaldo Garza on Friday after an investigation that began in February, when a Granby woman discovered her 12-year-old daughter and a friend chatting with a man from California on the Internet.
Diamond police Chief Keith Brumfield said the mother became suspicious of the man and initiated an Internet chat with him posing as a 15-year-old girl. She later contacted Brumfield’s wife, and the police chief referred her information to Jim Murray, a former Diamond police chief and current reserve officer who conducts Internet stings of suspected child-sex predators.
Murray said he approached the man, who was going by the name “Ray Garcia,” on the Internet under the guise of a 13-year-old girl named “Betty Sue Roads.” Murray said the suspect allegedly expressed an interest to him in girls as young as 6.
“He wanted ‘Betty Roads’ to get a 6-year-old girl to perform on a webcam with her,” Murray alleged in an interview with the Globe.
The suspect allegedly sent pornographic images of young girls to Murray via Yahoo Instant Messenger, and suggested meeting “Betty Roads” and her 12-year-old cousin when they went to Disneyland. He allegedly told Murray he would take condoms and a camera to a motel in Anaheim and take nude pictures of the girls.
Murray said the investigation was prolonged because he and California investigators initially believed “Ray Garcia” lived in Rialto, Calif. Murray said he could not get the suspect to send him an e-mail to track him down through a server.
Murray said the break in the case came when Garza allegedly made a telephone call to Diamond that was traced to the Los Angeles area.
Glendale police executed a search warrant at Garza’s apartment and arrested him Friday. Two computers were seized along with items that allegedly were visible in a photograph he had sent Murray during their chats.
Garza is charged with attempted seduction of a child via the Internet. Glendale police have told Murray that a second charge of possession of child pornography may be filed if such images are found on his computer. Murray said police there have told him that Garza allegedly acknowledged that there was child porn on his computers.
