Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday – No. 22
What a crazy week… We made history by electing the first African American president, and in the last week 16 Internet predators have been busted across the country!
- A 49-year-old New York man thought he was sending sexually explicit video of himself to a 14-year-old boy in Lorain County (Ohio), but learned Tuesday he had just become the first online sexual predator netted by the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.
- EIGHT (8) men were arrested in North Carolina after a yearlong investigation concluded. Two of the men are Marines who took an oath promising to protect our country.
- A 39-year-old Decatur (IL) man was arrested this weekend and charged with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child
- SIX (6) men in Pennsylvania were arrested and charged with using the Internet to sexually proposition children, or transmitting sexually graphic photos and webcam videos. The “children” were actually undercover agents using the online profiles of young teens.
These stories represent 16 more reasons why parents need to be vigilant, cautious and always monitoring their child’s Internet activity. While no kids were hurt this time, thankfully, without a doubt these guys tried. That is the key. Your kids may not be a victim of Internet predators, but that doesn’t mean that predators aren’t working hard to make them a victim…
Use PC Pandora monitoring software in your home to make sure a sicko like this isn’t talking to your kid… that’s enough said. Here are the stories:
Lorain County Sheriff’s Office nabs its first online predator
Stephen Szucs, The Chronicle-TelegramELYRIA — A 49-year-old New York man thought he was sending sexually explicit video of himself to a 14-year-old boy in Lorain County but learned Tuesday he had just become the first online sexual predator netted by the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.
Robert S. Forsyth, 49, of Horseheads, N.Y., was charged with disseminating indecent material to minors, a second-degree felony, by New York State Police following a four-month local investigation by the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.
Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti said Forsyth’s arrest couldn’t come soon enough.
“We want to get these guys,” Stammitti said. “They’re messing around with our most cherished commodity — our children.”
The bust comes after more than a year of searching the dot-com world with the assistance of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) — a federally funded program composed of 59 regional agencies that ensures cyber enticement and child pornography offenders are picked up by outside agencies.
Lorain County sheriff’s Capt. Richard Resendez said Forsyth began chatting online with the deputy on July 8, and eventually used a webcam to record himself masturbating.
In all, Forsyth and the deputy had 12 separate conversations, all of which contained conversation that was sexual in nature or included masturbation, Resendez said.
While in custody, Forsyth admitted to being the one who talked with the deputy, Resendez said, and further charges could come pending the investigation of files on his computer.
Three local deputies have been trained using the ICAC protocol, and each tries to spend available on-station time luring sexual predators their way.
Resendez said catching predators online may be a little different in the real world, but requires the same amount of patience.
Throw in the ever-changing high-tech aspects, he said, and law enforcement agencies have to work even harder to snag their suspects.
“They build a wall, we have to build a taller ladder,” Resendez said.
Marines & Others Caught In Undercover Online Sex Sting
By Laura Vesco, WNCT-TV ReporterA year long undercover investigation led to the arrests of eight North Carolina men, two of them Marines. The Pender County Sheriffs Department says they want to be proactive when it comes to catching sexual predators online. So they teamed up with the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Our Laura Vesco shares how their undercover investigation nabbed the eight men and why every child who uses the internet is at risk.
Detective Scott Lawson says, “It’s a naturally curious child, maybe from a broken home who is not receiving the attention they feel like they need.” Lawson says almost any child can fall victim to an online child predator, so as part of an undercover investigation, Lawson posed as a middle school aged girl.
His online chats led to the following arrests.
William Southers from Conover, North Carolina is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child and attempting to give obscene material to a child…
Private First Class Jack McHenry from Cherry Point faces federal charges of online enticement of a minor for the purposes of committing an illegal sex act.
Sergeant Donald Mundell from Camp Lejeune faces federal charges of online enticement of a minor.
Horacio Rhice from Wilson, North Carolina was charged with one count of disseminating obscene material to a minor. He pled guilty.
Lucas Letendre from Bear Creek, North Carolina is charged with one count of solicitation of a child by computer to commit an unlawful sex act. He posted bond but then was rearrested and charged with fifteen counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Dennis Johnston from Burgaw, North Carolina is charged with two counts first degree statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a child. More charges are pending due to his involvement in the manufacturing of images and movies of sexual molestation to multiple children.
Jason Wallace from Stem, North Carolina is charged with solicitation of a child by computer, to commit unlawful sex act and indecent liberties with a child.
Adam Bagley from Charlotte, North Carolina is charged with indecent liberties with a child and attempting to disseminate obscene material to a minor.
Reporter: “The scariest part of these arrests for parents? When it comes to the internet predators have the chance to contact your child right in the comfort of your own home.”
Pender County District Attorney Ben David has a stern warning for predators wherever they may be.
“As you are watching our children, we are watching you. We will go to the end of the earth to bring you back here in the 5th district and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” says David.
Two more Stories on the “North Caroline 8”: Pender County sex crimes sweep results in eight arrests and another with video: Pender County Sheriff’s Detectives arrest online predators
Man charged with soliciting a child online
From Staff ReportsJOLIET – An undercover Internet sting operation by Crete police led to the arrest of a man accused of soliciting a child online.
The arrest was Crete’s first undercover Internet predator sting and was the result of a department initiative to send an officer to attend training classes on the identification and investigation of potential Internet predators.
Robert A. Regguinti, 39, of Decatur, was charged with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child earlier this week.
He faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
The Crete Police Department and the Decatur Police Department executed a search warrant Sunday for computers at Regguinti’s home and office in Decatur.
Regguinti appeared in court in Will County earlier this week where Associate Judge Bennett Braun ordered him held on a $100,000 bond.
He remains in custody while he awaits trial.
Additionally, as a condition of the bond, the judge ordered that Regguinti is to have no contact with children under 18.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 24 in Courtroom 405.
One of the charges alleges that while using the Internet, Regguinti “knowingly discussed an act of sexual conduct” with someone “he believed to be a child.”
“(Crete Police) Chief (Paul) Vanderaa and the Crete Police Department should be commended for fighting the battle against Internet predators,” State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow said. “With constantly evolving technology, the training of our officers provides a crucial component in the defense of our children against manipulative adults who seek them out online.”
“Today’s Internet predators have increasing mobility,” said Vanderaa. “The Crete Police Department is seeking to serve the greater good by helping to apprehend predators not just from Crete, but anywhere they pose a threat to our children.”
Vanderaa thanked the Crete Village Board for providing his department with the backing it needs to send officers to Internet investigation training and provide officers with the computer equipment and software necessary to undertake this type of technical investigation.
Three local men nabbed in Internet predator sting
HARRISBURG – Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Child Predator Unit have arrested six Internet predators from across Pennsylvania during the past week, including suspects from Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties. The men are accused of using the Internet to sexually proposition children, or transmitting sexually graphic photos and webcam videos. The “children” were actually undercover agents using the online profiles of young teens.
Corbett identified the Pocono area defendants as:
- Timothy Eric Shorkey, 33, 80 Fawn Road, East Stroudsburg, Monroe County.
- Theodore Patrick Malinowski II, 34, 66 Spring Road, Dingmans Ferry, Pike County.
- Glenn Larry Quail, 39, 3 Whirling Post Lane, White Mills, Wayne County.
The other arrests were of men from Fayette, Lebanon and Luzerne counties.
“Movies and television are filled with scary stories and frightening images this Halloween season, but it is real-life predators stalking the Internet that are the true ‘horror story’ for parents and children,” Corbett said. “Unlike Hollywood monsters, these Internet predators don’t disappear when the movie is over or the TV is turned off.”
Corbett noted that since its creation in 2005, the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit has arrested 175 men from across Pennsylvania, and from as far away as Kentucky and Florida. So far this year, the unit has made 63 arrests – more than any other previous year.
“Every day, adults are using Internet chat rooms, message services, social networking sites and other online resources to search for vulnerable young victims for their own sexual pleasure,” Corbett said. “The number of predators we have been able to identify and arrest has been growing rapidly, and it is vital that parents and children understand this threat.”
Corbett said that Internet safety, just like traditional Halloween safety, starts as home.
Parents are encouraged to regularly talk to their kids about how they use the Internet, including:
- What website they use.
- What social networking sites they frequent (MySpace, Facebook, etc).
- The importance of not sharing personal information with people you do not know (names, ages, addresses, schools or other identifying information).
- Avoiding strangers who approach you online.
- Reporting any contact with individuals who engage in sexual discussions or attempt to send graphic photos or videos.
A Second Story on the “6 from PA”
AG: Man used Internet to perform lewd acts
By Edward Lewis, Staff Writer for The Times LeaderPLAINS TWP. – A Wyoming man was charged by the state Office of Attorney General on Thursday on allegations he used the Internet and a Web cam to perform lewd acts in front of “a 14-year-old girl” who actually was a police decoy, authorities said.
Accused Internet sex predator John Hettes of Wyoming is led to a transport vehicle from state Attorney General’s local office.
Aimee Dilger/the times leader
John H. Hettes, 53, of Bodle Road, was among six people charged this week with using the Internet to sexually proposition children, Attorney General Tom Corbett said during a news conference.
The “children,” Corbett said, were undercover agents from his office’s Child Predator Unit, which has charged 175 men in similar cases since January 2005.
Hettes declined comment when he was escorted to District Judge Joseph Carmody’s office in West Pittston, where he was arraigned on charges of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $50,000 straight bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
Hettes was in a Yahoo! chat room and believed he was conversing with a 14-year-old girl on Sept. 20. Hettes asked the girl, “hi there you into k9 sex?” During the chat session, the criminal complaint says, Hettes used a Web cam to expose himself and perform a lewd act.
Hettes contacted the girl again on Oct. 21 via chat room exposing himself and performing a lewd act, the criminal complaint says.
State agents identified Hettes after securing search warrants for Yahoo! and Comcast Cable Communications that identified his screen name and Internet provider address.
Corbett said that as the weather turns cold and the days grow shorter, more young people turn to their computers and online communities for entertainment or to stay in touch with friends.
“Predators know that online activity increases at this time of year, and they also know that more young people may be home unsupervised, either before or after school,” Corbett said. “Time and distance mean nothing to Internet predators because computer technology allows them to reach across the street, or across the country to groom young victims for sexual meetings or to flood their computers with explicit Web cam videos, sexually graphic pictures or illegal child pornography.”
Corbett said Internet predators either develop friendships with children, which he called “grooming,” before requesting to meet them, or immediately discuss sexual encounters after meeting children in chat rooms.
He said parents are the first line of defense against Internet predators.
A preliminary hearing for Hettes is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 6 in Central Court.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:08 AM
That’s scary! It’s great to see that these sickos were caught, but what’s really going on out there if there are this many being caught!!
I just saw an article come out to say that the online predator issue is exaggerated. I disagree. It’s new, so it gets a lot of news coverage, but it’s still a grave danger that we have to stay informed on and fight against.