Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday, Episode 8
3 dirtbags from Arkansas + 3 scumbags from Indiana + 1 US Marine in Missouri = 7 Reasons parents need to stay vigilant and use PC Pandora monitoring software to know what their children are doing online and who they are talking to…
Again, the reason I do these weekly posts is to prove to the skeptics and the parents that these sick Internet predators are out there. They MAY be talking to your kids. Do you know if they are? Parents need to KNOW in this technology/mass communication-driven 21st century.
Monitoring computer activity is essential in the 21st century. In some way shape or form you must know what your children are doing online. Monitoring software programs like PC Pandora can help take the guesswork out of Internet parenting and provide you with 100% accurate knowledge of everything your child does. It’s up to you to take the information and act effectively and responsibly.
If the sickos (like the 7 caught below) and the bullies are using technology, why aren’t you? Family security is a life-long struggle. The current age lends more tools and avenues to those who would seek to harm your family – but using software to monitor the computer and Internet activity in your house, you can keep your kids safe from Internet predators, cyberbullies and anything else.
Ok… enough soapboxing… here’s the 3 stories. Click links for mugshots, videos, etc.
INDIANA
Police: 3 online predators caught by task force
WISH-TV, June 25, 2008
HAMILTON COUNTY – Hamilton County investigators arrested three men they describe as online predators. One of them has a history of targeting young children.
Hamilton County’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators chat online almost constantly with potential sexual predators targeting kids.
“We know that kids will experiment. They are curious. They will try risky behavior and they feel very comfortable on the computer in their own home,” said Fishers Police Sergeant Gerry Hepp.
Investigators said that’s when kids might get an instant message from someone like 40-year-old Thomas Nickels, already convicted of child molestation back in 2003. Nickels now faces three felony counts of child solicitation after investigators said he chatted with an undercover officer who Nickels thought was a 14-year-old girl.
“The chat does turn to sexual conversation, sexual topics or offers to perform sexual acts and then they do try to establish a meeting point,” said Sgt. Hepp.
That’s when investigators arrested Nickels. Kevin Livengood, 30, is accused of doing the same thing. The two are still in jail. But 23-year-old Michael Nyberg bonded out of jail after task force investigators arrested him for possession of child porn.
Nyberg wasn’t home when 24-Hour News 8 knocked on his door.
Task force investigators want the arrests to serve as a warning for parents, especially during the summer months when children have more time to surf the Web.
Investigators believe parents may be surprised to learn how quickly some of the Internet chats turn sexual. They said predators have a way of manipulating the children into keeping secrets by testing them with small secrets.
The ICAC task force conducts educational seminars. You can call them at 595-3328 to find out more.
ARKANSAS
Internet sex sting nets three more arrests
By Louis Short / Sun-Times Staff, June 26, 2008
Charges are pending against three more men for setting up a meeting with a presumed 13-year-old female for sexual contact. The “girl” is working with the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department to help catch predators. The men all face a charge of Internet stalking of a child. The arrests came within three days of each other, two of them on Saturday.
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Charles D. Agnew, 25, of Cabot traveled to a predetermined location Thursday afternoon to meet an underage girl.
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James Edward Lovett, 36, of Searcy was arrested Saturday after planning to meet an underage female.
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Ramon Thomas Martar, 52, of Conway, was also arrested Saturday. Bond was set at $15,000 for each of the men.
MISSOURI
Sting involving Marine is 4th arrest in 3 months for online sheriff’s department
Nina Criscuolo, KOAM-TV, June 26, 2008
An online sex sting by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department claims a U.S. Marine staff sergeant was initiating sexual conversations with a detective posing as a 13-year-old girl. The sting is not anything new for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.
This is the fourth arrest in three months concerning an adult accused of enticing children over the Internet.
Jasper County Detective Ed Bailey’s job is dedicated to Internet crimes against children. He says it’s the “crime of today”, and it’s too much to handle.
“Every case that I work, I simply make myself visible and I allow them to make first contact, and every chat after that they initiate contact,” says Detective Bailey.
The detective says he does not lure these online predators, and says most of them seem to know better in the first place.
“Almost every one that I’ve talked to so far at some point has asked me if I was a police officer, and when I ask them why they say ‘we know that there’s guys out there that are pretending to be little kids to catch people doing stuff.’”
Still, they continue to talk with Bailey and the conversations escalate, as with the latest case in which a Marine in Missouri is accused of attempted enticement of a child and sexual misconduct.
“He started using sexual suggestion and when I would accept them he would make more and they would get more assertive.”
Bailey says with more than 20 active cases, this problem is too overwhelming for him to handle.
He says parents need to do their part to keep their children safe.
“Look over their shoulder,” Bailey says. “Know what their passwords are. Check their email. Check their instant messages. Leave your archives on if they’re using chat services.”
Bailey says although children do have their own privacy rights their safety overrides them.
The Jasper County sheriff is currently considering adding new technology to their online investigations such as voice changing software.
And for those chatting with minors Detective Bailey has just one thing to say.
“I’ll be there waiting for you.”