Pandora’s Blog

I missed last week due to PC problems… so without further ado, here is the wrap-up of scumbags arrested or sentenced in the last few weeks… and some people try to say there is just no problem here. Sheesh!

Remember, PC Pandora computer monitoring software will help you keep your kids safe by giving you a visual record of everything they do. You don’t need to comb through and read every sordid detail, but you do need to know if they are talking to a stranger that could be potential predators… you never know…

• A 37-year-old former cop from Pennsylvania is on probation and being fined for soliciting minors for sex and asking other girls to suck his toes. He met the girls on MySpace. They complied.
• Two men in Colorado were arrested for having explicit sexual conversations online and sharing pornographic images with what they thought were underage girls.
• A 15-year-old girl from Pennsylvania is being charged with child pornography after she took nude pictures of herself and sent them to a 27-year-old she met on MySpace. SHE SENT THE PHOTS HERSELF, PARENTS!!!
• Six men were arrested in an internet sting operation by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. They were arrested on charges of soliciting minors for sex (over the internet) and child pornography.
• A 29-year-old man from Pennsylvania flew to Georgia to have sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
• A 29-year-old man in California lied about his age in order to arrange a meeting with a teenage girl, and then forced her to have sex with him. This was a REAL girl!

Here are the full stories with links…

February 10, 2009
Ex-Police Officer Gets Probation for Paying Teen Girls to Suck Toes
Associate Press

MUNHALL, Pa. — A former police officer in the Pittsburgh suburb of Munhall will spend five years on probation after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from an underage girl and offering others $1,000 to suck their toes.

Thirty-seven-year-old Michael Curtin was charged in May, three months after he was fired as a police officer.

Curtin acknowledged having a foot fetish and soliciting five teenage girls at various times in 2006 and 2007, sometimes through the MySpace.com social networking Web site.

Some of the girls say Curtin gave them alcohol, let them drive his car, and touched them inappropriately.

Curtin and his attorney didn’t comment after Curtin pleaded guilty to indecent assault, corruption of minor and other charges on Monday.

February 19, 2009
Online investigation nets two arrests

Detectives from the sheriff’s High-Tech Crimes Unit have arrested two men suspected of talking online with what they thought were underage girls.

The “girls” were Douglas County, Denver and Fort Lupton investigators.

Kenneth Goldman, 41, of Chicago, was arrested and extradited to Colorado Jan. 28. His online chats began in October 2008 and continued through January, with what he believed to be an underage girl.

“We have jurisdiction since he was communicating with our detectives here,” Deputy Cocha Heyden said. “He technically commits the crime both places [also in Chicago] but we are the jurisdiction he was talking to.”

Investigators said Goldman engaged in “highly sexual” conversations and shared obscene material with what he thought was an underage girl.

He faces charges of two counts of Internet sexual exploitation of a child and six counts of promotion of obscenity to a minor, all felonies.

Police also discovered Goldman was chatting online with Denver Police Department detectives who posed as underage girls.

Kevin Taft, 39, of Colorado Springs, was arrested on similar charges Feb. 6, after he began his online chats with an “underage girl” in October 2008. The chats became sexual in nature and continued through the end of the year.

Through the investigation, police determined that Taft also talked online with “underaged females” who turned out to be detectives in Fort Lupton.

Goldman was released from Douglas County jail after posting a $25,000 bond in the county case and a $50,000 bond in the Denver case.

He is scheduled to appear in Douglas County Court April 23 for a preliminary hearing.

After a warrant was obtained on Taft, he was taken into custody in Colorado Springs and transferred to Douglas County jail.

Taft faces charges in Douglas County of three counts of Internet sexual exploitation of a child and six counts of promotion of obscenity to a minor, all felonies.

The charges Taft faces in Fort Lupton are Internet sexual exploitation of a child and promotion of obscenity to a minor, also felony charges.

Taft is in the Douglas County jail on a $100,000 bond. His next court appearance is Feb. 13.

“I am very proud of the work that my detectives have been doing,” said Douglas County Sheriff Dave Weaver. “This tenacity shows that they are steadfast in the goal of making sure our youth are protected from online predators.”

February 20, 2009
Pennsylvania Girl, 15, Faces Child Porn Charges After ‘Sexting’

CLEARFIELD, Pa. — A 15-year-old girl from central Pennsylvania faces child pornography charges after police say she sent nude pictures of herself over the Internet.

Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw says the girl has been charged as a juvenile with possessing, distributing and creating child pornography.

The girl is living with her mother. Authorities say the girl sent the pictures after communicating in June 2007 with a 27-year-old man over the MySpace networking Web site.

The practice has been called “sexting” for the prevalence of teens to transmit images via a cell phone.

Shaw says the man has also been charged with unlawful sexual activity. State police found the images on the man’s computer.

Feb 20, 2009
Detectives nab 5 in child-porn sting; Suspects sought, arrested in La., Miss.
Advocate Florida parishes bureau

HAMMOND — A coalition of law enforcement agencies mounting an Internet sting operation in recent weeks arrested five men accused of computer-related crimes against children, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives posed online as children to seek out Internet predators and also monitored images of child pornography being traded over the Internet to people in Tangipahoa Parish, Sheriff Daniel Edwards said Thursday.

Detectives booked Christopher Thomas, 42, 1317 Harrison Ave., McComb, Miss., with computer-aided solicitation of a minor for sexual purposes and with pornography involving juveniles, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

Thomas contacted a person on the Internet that he had reason to believe was an underage girl from Hammond and arranged to meet her at a Hammond business for sexual contact, the release states.

Detectives said they arrested Thomas upon his arrival at the business.

In a subsequent investigation, detectives located images of child pornography on Thomas’ home and work computers, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Authorities said they booked James Dustin Smith. 27, 1028 Tanglebriar Drive, Baton Rouge with solicitation of a minor for sexual purposes, attempted pornography involving a juvenile, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Detectives said they arrested Smith after he contacted a detective who was posing online as a little girl and Smith engaged in sexually explicit chat conversation with the detective including requesting sexually explicit pictures.

In two other investigations, authorities arrested Louis Edward Olinde, 38, 9886 Eve Drive, Denham Springs, and Anthony E. Russano, 41, 415 J.J. Lane, Covington, on counts of computer aided solicitation of a minor for sexual purposes.

The men contacted detectives, who were posing online as little girls, and engaged in sexually explicit chat conversations and exposed themselves via their Web cameras, according to the news release.

In another case, authorities said they booked Marty Allen Bell, 48, 23226 Pecan Grove Drive, Robert, with pornography involving juveniles after tracing child pornography to Bell’s computer, the release states.

Officials with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said they worked with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, Southeastern Louisiana University Police Department, Kenner Police Department, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Probation & Parole Office and U.S. Secret Service in the investigation.

Feb 23, 2009
Man arrested in Perverted Justice Internet sting
By Jim Wallace, WALB-TV

For the second time in three weeks Dougherty County Sheriff’s Investigators made an arrest in an Internet sex sting with the help of Perverted Justice.

A 29 year old man flew from Philadelphia for a sexual encounter at an Albany motel with who he thought was a 14 year old girl. He’s in the Dougherty County jail.

Investigators say Perverted Justice recorded 70 pages of chat between 29 year old Girish Doss and who he thought was a 14 year old girl.

Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office Captain Craig Dodd said “He met her through a Yahoo chat room, and she is also on MySpace.

But Doss was actually chatting with volunteers working for Perverted Justice, a volunteer group that works with law enforcement to trap Internet predators.

Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office Captain Craig Dodd said “the subject traveled from Philadelphia to Atlanta. Rented a car in Atlanta and drove to Albany Georgia to meet what he thought to be a 14 year old child.”

Instead it was Sheriff’s Investigators who met him at his room at the Hampton Inn Saturday morning at 11 AM. They say Doss broke down in tears and confessed.

Dodd said “Confronted him and he immediately, voluntarily made statements that he knew what he had done and was sorry.”

Investigators say Doss is an Indian national, working as a computer programmer for a software company in Philadelphia on a temporary work visa. This is the second man arrested in Albany in an Internet sting by Perverted Justice and Sheriff’s Investigators. Sivakumar Jeraraman was arrested three weeks ago. Sheriff Kevin Sproul says it shows just how many criminals are on the Internet targeting children.

Sproul said “We’ve got to be very vigilant as parents today. We have to look at everything out there and be as aware as we can and think prevention as much as we can. That’s the times that we live in.”

Both Doss and Jeraraman are being held in the Dougherty County Jail on attempted child molestation charges, and will likely be deported and prevented from returning to the United States.

Sheriff Sproul says his Office will continue to work with Perverted Justice. He urges parents to monitor their child’s Internet and cell phone activity.

If you want some internet safety suggestions, you can call the sheriff’s office at 430-6500.

February 24, 2009
Santa Cruz man lied about age to seduce underage girl on Myspace, detective says
By Jennifer Squires, Santa Cruz Sentinel

Sex crimes investigators arrested a Santa Cruz man last week suspected of forcing a teenage girl he met online to have sex with him.

Now, Santa Cruz detectives are searching for other girls Edgar Atilano Silva, 29, may have met through his Myspace page because they believe there could be other sexual assault victims, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

Silva was arrested Friday afternoon at a home on the 500 block of Park Way in Santa Cruz. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of rape, statutory rape and a probation violation, according to jail records.

Silva allegedly lied about his age to seduce the underage girl, whom he met online in 2007, according to detective Cesar Ramirez. During the few months the two had interaction, they met in person and Silva allegedly forced the teen to have sex with him. Eventually, he told her his true age.

The girl recently came forward to report the alleged sexual assault to the Sheriff’s Office, although her contact with Silva has been over for quite awhile, Ramirez said. The detective declined to say what prompted her to contact law enforcement now and would not say how old she is or where she lives.

Silva, who remains in County Jail on $50,000 bail, could not be reached to comment.

According to court records, Silva has a prior criminal history, but his past crimes do not include sexual intercourse with minors. Silva was on probation

for unrelated offenses when he was arrested.

Investigators are still looking into other underage girls Silva may have met online.

“We believe that he had communication with other teenagers through Myspace so these teenagers may or may not be victims of sexual assault,” Ramirez said.

The detective reminded parents to monitor the social networking sites their children use to see who they’re having contact with and suggested the kids’ pages be set to private so only friends — not the public — can access them.

The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information about other possible victims of Silva contact the Investigations Unit at (831) 454-2311.

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