Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday — #27
Happy New Year… do predators celebrate New Year’s? I bet these 20 guys aren’t!
Here for your reading pleasure are a few more stories from the seedy underbelly of the Internet – the world where predators lurk!
Note that they are from as far back as mid-December and as recent as this week. Regardless, they are ALL reasons for parents to be monitoring Internet activity of their kids with software like our PC Pandora computer monitoring software…
- Two 29-year-old guys were arrested and are charged with trying to lure minors for sex online (including distributing pornographic material to them).
- Four men were arrested in Louisiana, all of varying ages, and all trying to solicit young kids online, possessing child porn or actually molesting kids.
- Thirteen men were arrested in a sting op in Missouri last month. Ages ranged from 27 to 44 and charges range from harassment to soliciting kids online to physical abuse.
- A 42-year-old high school band director was arrested after he was found laying on top of a student… both in their underwear. Clearly the girl was a willing participant…
Stories follow…
December 19, 2008
Viroqua police nab two in Internet sex crime investigation
By Matt Johnson, Vernon County BroadcasterThe Viroqua Police Department recently concluded a pair of lengthy investigations that led to Internet sex crime charges being filed against two men.
According to criminal complaints filed in Vernon County Circuit Court last week, Steven M. Wickert, 29, Green Bay, and Kevin A. Kreisel, 29, Madison, are both facing felony charges. The charges stem from investigations launched by the Viroqua Police Department in its role as an affiliate of the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Viroqua Police Officer Emilee Nottestad went online undercover as a minor during both investigations. Nottestad, who has been an officer in Viroqua since 2000, has received more than 100 hours of training sponsored by the state’s justice department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to conduct undercover investigations into online sex crimes, Viroqua Police Chief Mark Rahr said. The Viroqua Police Department also received a $1,500 grant from the state to purchase special computer equipment on which the investigations could be conducted and evidence recorded.
Nottestad said the average county resident would be surprised at the need for such policing.
“It’s shocking how rampant (these crimes are),” Nottestad said. “Some people say, ‘Not in Viroqua, not in Vernon County,’ but it’s everywhere.”
Wickert faces 10 counts, two felonies and eight misdemeanors. The felony counts are for attempting to cause a child to view sexual activity as a repeater, which is a class “H” felony punishable by three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The eight misdemeanor charges against Wickert are attempting to expose a child to harmful material, descriptions or narrations as a repeater and are punishable by nine months in prison or a $10,000 fine.
Nottestad said she put in “hundreds” of hours collecting evidence against Wickert.
According to the criminal complaint against Wickert, he engaged in online discussions of a sexual nature from late July through mid-September. Wickert was told he was chatting with a 13-year-old eighth-grader. Wickert sent pornographic photos over the Internet during the online chats. The content of the conversations, which were numerous and explicit in nature, were saved on the Viroqua Police Department’s computer system and will serve as evidence against Wickert.
Vernon County District Attorney Tim Gaskell subpoenaed Yahoo! Inc. in August to find out information on Wickert. Nottestad then did further investigation to identify Wickert.
Wickert is a registered sex offender and in 2005 was convicted of second degree sexual assault of child, a class BC felony. He served six months in the Brown County Jail on that charge.
On Nov. 10, Nottestad and Viroqua Police Department Assistant Chief Daron Jefson executed a search warrant at Wickert’s residence. They seized his computer and he was arrested and taken to the Brown County Jail, where he was held on a probation detainer. Wickert’s case was filed in Vernon County on Dec. 10 and he has yet to appear in court.
Nottestad said the investigation into Kreisel was conducted in about 20 hours.
Kreisel has been charged with attempting to cause a child to view sexual activity, a class “H” felony, which is punishable by a maximum of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Kreisel was also charged with a misdemeanor count of attempting to expose a child to harmful material, descriptions or narrations, which is punishable by nine months in prison or a $10,000 fine. On Dec. 3, Kreisel appeared in Vernon County Circuit Court and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
According to the criminal complaint, Kreisel engaged in online discussions of a sexual nature from early August through mid-September. Kreisel was also told he was chatting with a 13-year-old eighth-grader.
During the course of the investigation, the complaint said that Kreisel engaged in discussing sexual subjects and performed sexual acts in front of a web camera. Again, the police department’s computer system recorded the information as evidence.
The investigation continued to a point where the “girl” was supposed to meet Kreisel at a Viroqua hotel during the Vernon County Fair, although Kreisel didn’t come to Viroqua.
On Sept. 23, Nottestad, aided by the Madison Police Department, executed a search warrant at Kreisel’s residence. A total of 13 pieces of evidence were taken and Kreisel said he didn’t believe he was having online chats with a 13-year-old girl. He said thought he was chatting with another adult in a role-playing situation, according to the complaint.
A status conference in Kreisel’s case has been set for Feb. 23, 2009.
Rahr said his department became involved with the task force at the request of Nottestad. He said the department is continuing its work.
“Within 15 minutes of being in a chatroom (Nottestad) can strike up a conversation with a gentleman, who then asks her to go into a private chatroom,” Rahr said. “The officer goes online, has chit-chat with a person, one thing leads to another and (the investigation is underway).”
The Wisconsin Attorney General’s office released the news of Kreisel’s arrest statewide.
“I want to congratulate Chief Mark Rahr and Officer Emilee Nottestad on their first Internet Crimes Against Children Case,” Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said. “The Viroqua Police Department is a key partner in the fight to help protect Wisconsin’s kids from Internet predators.”
Nottestad said that through her training she’s made connections all over the state and the nation with fellow law enforcement officers who have received the same type of training and do the same type of investigations.
“We’re working to be pro-active in policing this,” Nottestad said. “Our goals include getting information out in the public to educate kids and parents and help stop the victimization.
“As a parent, knowing there are predators out there just waiting for kids to log onto their computers… it’s frightening,” Nottestad continued.
In October, Van Hollen attended a round-table discussion at the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department in Viroqua where he said that it was a top priority of his department to stop online sex crimes against children.
December 24, 2008
Prator: Four more online predators caught
By Drew Pierson, Shreveport TimesOne man is accused of exposing himself to a 12-year-old girl. Another man was jailed on a charge of possessing child pornography with children as young as 2 years old.
Police say another man talked sexually with a minor online while at work.
The men were recently caught and arrested by the Northwest Louisiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a 15-agency task force with a mission to capture Internet predators.
“Your children are already being hit on, being sexually approached,” Bossier City Marshal Johnny Wyatt said of online predators.
Wyatt joined Caddo Parish District Attorney-elect Charles Scott and other law enforcement officials at a press conference Tuesday afternoon hosted by Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator to announce the arrests.
“One of these fools we arrested could be hitting on your daughter or son,” Prator said.
Those arrested were:
- John Robbins, 44, a man from Krugerville, Texas. He was arrested on indecent behavior with a juvenile and computer-aided solicitation of a minor charges. Police said Robbins thought he was talking to a 12-year-old girl online and sent pictures of him exposing himself. “And we all know how sickening that is,” Prator said.
- Clayton Bowers, 23, of Shreveport. He was arrested on a computer-aided solicitation of a minor charge. Prator said Bowers thought he was “sexually exploiting” a 14-year-old girl online — while he was at work.
- Laurence Finch, 36, of Blanchard. Finch is accused of possessing child pornography with children as young as 2 years old. Interpol got involved, as it alerted the task force of Finch’s suspected online pornography through international boundaries, and Prator said sheriff’s deputies confiscated five computers and nine hard drives’ worth of material.
- Larry Esque, of Shreveport. Esque was arrested on three counts of child molestation, against three complainants, Prator said.
“We have still not conquered the problem of Internet solicitation,” he said.
The task force, established in 2006, consists of multiple investigators from different agencies trolling Web sites and chat rooms posing as underage girls and boys. When an Internet predator begins to advance on them, detectives record the details and eventually arrest the subject.
Wyatt said the agency has arrested more than 100 Internet predators in the three years since its inception, .
Scott, who will become Caddo Parish’s district attorney next year, said he would take a “serious” look when decided sentencing for alleged predators caught by the task force.
Prator urged parents to be extra cautious during the holiday season, especially when choosing computers as Christmas gifts, or letting children stay home on winter break by themselves.
“All I’m saying is: watch out for your kids,” Prator said.
December 20, 2008
Alton Internet stings target sexual predators
By Sanford J. Schmidt, The TelegraphALTON – The recent sentencing of Steven D. Beaver to two years in prison is the last of 13 city of Alton cases against sexual predators trolling the Internet for young girls to victimize.
“I never made an arrest in which I was not 100 percent certain that I was dealing with a sexual predator,” said Pfc. Mike Bazzell, information technology specialist for the Alton Police Department.
Beaver, 38, of St. Charles, Mo., was one of only three defendants in Alton’s “sex sting” cases to receive jail time, but Bazzell and other law enforcement authorities said the cases had a far more important impact.
Bazzell would pose as an underage female in a chat room on the Internet, and the defendants were men who came to Alton for the purpose of having sex with them. He began setting up the operation in 2000, and he handled it for the Alton Police Department until the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force took over the operation for the entire area.
“I definitely think it has had an impact,” Bazzell said.
“By around 2003 or 2004, it was common knowledge around the Internet chat rooms that you do not pick up people in Alton,” he said.
“We do these because it’s an issue for our community,” Alton Police Chief Chris Sullivan said. “Any time a child puts their name up on the Internet – an 8- or 10-year-old boy, for example – you have predators surfing the Internet. We want to send a message telling pedophiles this isn’t where you want to be.
“It’s extremely common. The predators are out there,” he said. “It’s an attempt to protect the kids and the communities we serve.”
Bazzell is a member of the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force as part of his duties as an Alton police detective. Cases similar to the ones he investigated for the city now are handled by the FBI task force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois.
Bazzell said he and other members of the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force still keep an eye on the Internet, looking for predators who are seeking victims.
Now, anyone caught in the FBI stings will be charged in a federal case.
“Now, nobody knows who they are talking to,” Bazzell said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Massey said the cases are processed under a federal government program called “Project Safe Childhood.” He said he can’t comment on any pending cases, but his office is charged with collecting evidence on all federal crimes, no matter where they happen.
More information is available at http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Bazzell received training in how to investigate these cases through the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
As a member of the task force, he receives training in how to keep up with the best methods of finding predators who still are out there and how to keep young people safe.
He does training sessions with people who operate public libraries and coffee houses with Internet access.
“The libraries and coffee shops attract people like that,” Madison County State’s Attorney William R. Mudge said.
Sullivan pointed out the predators can set up a phony identification and e-mail account and do their crimes without authorities tracing the messages back to their computers.
The librarians and coffee shop owners are taught to spot signs of sexual predation going on at their computers. Predators will search Internet chat rooms, based on geographic location, such as “St. Louis area.” They make contact with potential victims in the chat rooms and obtain their Internet message addresses. They will start up conversations and eventually try to set up a meeting. They almost always lie about their age and other facts, Mudge said.
Sullivan said Bazzell and other officers on the Internet are taught how to avoid entrapping suspects into committing crimes.
“The suspects are aggressive. The officers are careful not to bring up sexual activity. We always discourage any sexual conversation,” Sullivan said. “After several attempts are made, we set up a meeting. We never request a meeting.”
Photos placed on the Internet are of young women in innocent poses.
Mudge said his office agreed to take every case brought to it by the Alton Police Department.
“We know Mike does a good job. They are the experts,” Mudge said.
The majority of pedophiles who got caught in Alton’s pedophile sting were placed on supervision or probation and were ordered to undergo sexual offender treatment. Depending on the plea agreement, those who pleaded guilty to felonies would be required to register as sex offenders.
Beaver and two other suspects received jail sentences because the investigations revealed they had been involved in more serious sex offenses. One defendant eventually pleaded guilty to a sex offense against his own daughter and was sentenced to 13 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He confessed after he was caught in the sting and authorities seized his computer.
Beaver was one of two men picked up just before Valentine’s Day in February 2004. He did not undergo sex treatment and also was accused of exposing himself on the Internet in his efforts to make contact with “Samantha,” Bazzell’s Internet alter ego.
The absence of sex offender treatment and the indecent exposure explain why Beaver got jail time, while others did not, Mudge said. He said it is not unusual for two people charged with the same crime to get different plea bargains.
“It happens all the time,” he said.
Bazzell said Beaver used a live “Web cam” pointed at himself as he performed a solo sex act while typing an instant message on the computer to “Samantha.”
William G. Perigo Jr., 42, of Granite City pleaded guilty in Madison County Circuit Court to a misdemeanor charge of solicitation of a sexual act. At the time Associate Judge James Hackett accepted his plea agreement in September 2008, Perigo had successfully completed sex offender treatment and was discharged.
He was placed on two years of probation, ordered to pay a fine of $2,500 and assessed a $500 fee paid to the Madison County Child Advocacy Center.
One of the earlier cases garnered the most publicity and went a long way toward dissuading pedophiles from visiting Alton in search of victims.
That was the case of Kevin Coan, a lawyer and Republican member of the St. Louis Board of Elections. That case made headlines all over the metropolitan area.
Coan was arrested and charged in March 2001 but went through sex offender treatment while his case was pending. As a result of his cooperation, he was placed on probation, but authorities here referred his case to Missouri authorities for possible discipline on his law license.
Mudge said in 2005, when the deal was completed, that doctors had sent his office several messages assuring him that Coan’s treatment was effective and that Coan no longer posed a danger to the public.
In addition to the defendants convicted or placed on supervision, two still are listed as fugitives, and one was deported.
Sullivan said he considers the fugitive cases a success because they ensure that the offender is not likely to return to Alton any time soon, and public safety is the primary goal of the Internet sting operation.
Here is the list of 13 men charged in Alton sex offender Internet sting cases. Solicitation of a sexual act is a Class B misdemeanor.
Shown are name, date of birth and disposition.
- William G. Perigo, 42, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a sexual act, sentenced to two years’ probation and sexual offender treatment.
- Steven D. Beaver, 38, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, sentenced to two years’ prison, no sexual offender treatment
- Jason A. Maneke, 32, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, sentenced to two years’ probation, treatment.
- Richard A. Quinones, 29, fugitive.
- Joey E. Bickell, 32, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, sentenced to two years’ probation, treatment.
- Suman K. Muppidi, 31, placed on court supervision, completed sexual offender treatment, charge dismissed.
- Kishore B. Balasubramaniam, 30, fugitive.
- James M. Green, 27, pleaded guilty to contributing to the sexual delinquency of a child, placed on supervision, treatment completed, charged dismissed.
- Jeremy S. Muchnick, 32, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a sexual act, treatment completed, no sentence.
- Kevin T. Coan, 47, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a sexual act, completed treatment, sentenced to two years’ probation.
- Steven R. Whitehead, 30, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation and aggravated sexual abuse, placed on two years probation, treatment.
- Jeremy T. Blair, 33, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse; sentenced to three years in prison. Fourteen charges of child pornography dismissed as part of plea bargain.
- Scott R. Graham, 44, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation and criminal sexual assault, sentenced to 13 years in prison.
January 5, 2009
Band director had red flag
By Tom Marshall, Times Staff WriterBROOKSVILLE — Hernando schools officials missed at least one flag that might have tipped them off to potential wrongdoing by a teacher who was arrested last week on sex charges.
Superintendent Wayne Alexander said he “didn’t know of any previous complaints” regarding Nature Coast Technical High band director Timothy Brightbill, who remained in jail Monday on two charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
But little more than a year ago, Brightbill was reprimanded by his principal for posting inappropriate photos on his MySpace account.
“As we discussed in our conference, you are to deconstruct your MySpace account as soon as possible,” wrote principal Margaret “Tizzy” Schoelles in an October 2007 note to the teacher.
“Specifically, I am asking that you remove the pictures we spoke about and consider removing Nature Coast Technical High School students from your friends list. You are directed to cease conduct related to the MySpace account immediately.”
Brightbill, 42, was found lying on top of a 17-year-old girl about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when the girl’s mother arrived home early. Both were wearing only underwear. He confessed to performing sex acts on her that day, and also in November, according to the police report.
He was arrested and transported to the Hernando County Jail, where he remains behind bars in lieu of $20,000 bail. Officials were in the process of suspending him with pay, the first step in an internal review that could lead to suspension without pay or termination.
In her 2007 letter, Schoelles said Brightbill could be fired for keeping the photos up or engaging in similar conduct again. It was not clear from the letter what the MySpace photos depicted. Schoelles and Alexander did not respond to requests for comment on the reprimand.
School Board member Pat Fagan said he received an update Monday on the Brightbill case from business services director Heather Martin, but said she had not mentioned anything about a previous reprimand for inappropriate student contact.
“I would think that would definitely show a cause to be concerned,” Fagan said, referring to the MySpace letter.
“It sounds to me like he had some contacts with younger students,” he added. “We need to take these things more seriously in the future.”
Brightbill’s MySpace page was set to private this week, open only to his personal contacts. But his Facebook page featured the teacher posing shirtless following a sports event.
By several accounts, Brightbill was a model teacher and a rising star in the world of high school band directors.
He began his teaching career in the Pinellas County Schools in the fall of 1990, working for 15 years at Southside Fundamental, Pinellas Park and Thurgood Marshall middle schools. His personnel file showed no disciplinary actions, and he left the district of his own accord, said spokeswoman Andrea Zahn.
“He was an astonishingly good music teacher,” said former Times editor Martin Dyckman, whose son was in the band at Southside. “I was consistently amazed at the results he got out of those kids.”
Brightbill came to Hernando County Schools in 2006 with glowing recommendations from his supervisors in Pinellas and earned a positive evaluation from Schoelles in April 2007.
But on Oct. 29 of that year, she told him to take down his MySpace page, and put a letter to that effect in his personnel file.
Brightbill also received a formal reprimand last November for violating School Board policies on the handling of funds from the school’s booster club.