Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday – #36 Part 2
Oops… AGAIN! Not only did I post the weekly round-up a day late, but I forgot one story and, as always happens, another came across my desk right after I made the last post. So here it is, for the second week in a row, a double-dose of predator round-up stories.
Here are two (actually, three)more reasons, in addition to the previous three, why parents need to pay attention to who their kids are communicating with – especially on social networks. That’s why we made PC Pandora computer monitoring software. We are the best resource a parent can utilize. Remember, there is no reason and no excuse for not knowing what your child is doing online… except of course weak and lazy parenting.
Here’s a summary, detailed stories follow:
A man from Florida poses on MySpace as a talent scout and uses it to meet young vulnerable (aka stupid) females… then sexually assaults them.
Two men in Pennsylvania (a 24-year-old grad student and a 44-year-old dentist!) are arrested in a predator sting for trying to solicit teens online for sex.
March 24, 2009
Man lures woman using MySpace
By Carolyn Scofield, WPTVPORT ST. LUCIE, FL – Police say a man posing as a talent agent on a social networking website and lured a woman to his home.
Detectives say Thuron Hammersley used MySpace to get in touch with the victim.
She is a 20-year old aspiring model from Georgia and police say Hammersley posed as a talent agent.
He’s now in the St. Lucie County Jail on two counts of sexual battery.
Police say Hammersley bought a bus ticket from the woman to come to his Port St. Lucie home.
He said he wanted the victim to model for him.
When she arrived in Florida, police say Hammersley wanted her to do some exotic modeling.
She refused and detectives say Hammersley kept her in his house for ten days and raped her.
Police say he took her cell phone and wouldn’t let her leave until she finally escaped and got help.
Officers say it’s a warning to anyone who goes online.
March 25, 2009
Bensalem Police Nab 2 More in Online Sex Stings
By KYW’s Brad Segall and Al NovackTwo more men — a Drexel University graduate student and a Cherry Hill, NJ dentist — have been arrested in Bensalem, PA. as detectives continue their crackdown of suspected online predators.
Bensalem police say their Special Victims Unit monitored very explicit sexual conservations the two men were having with what they thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Eventually the men decided they wanted to meet the girl, but they were taken into custody by detectives when they showed up for their rendezvous.
Bensalem public safety director Fred Harran says their first reaction is one of shock:
“You know they’re there for the glory — they’re getting ready to meet their dream of their sexual conversation that’s been going on for the last couple of weeks or months, and I think it takes a while for it to sink in.”
The men are identified as 24-year-old Arun Kurikote-Antony (above left), an Indian national in this country on a student visa; and John Lackner (above right), a 44-year-old dentist from Cherry Hill with a practice in Vineland, NJ.
Harran says Lackner was arrested with a pair of toy handcuffs in his car.