Wacky Internet Predator Wednesday – #61
Another weekly round-up of perverts looking for kids online… In one case, two men actually assaulted a 12-year-old girl they met on Facebook. This stuff is real, people! Trying to look the other way or saying things are blow out of proportion is just as bad as committing the crime itself.
Don’t be a passive parent. Use tools that are available to you (see; PC Pandora) to keep your kids safe online. There is NO reason to give them full freedom and reign on the internet. Doing so only opens the doors for disaster…
Here are the summaries; full stories follow…
- Two Michigan men (22 and 24-year-old) were arrested in an online sting operation. Both men have pleaded guilty to using a computer to solicit sex from a minor.
- A 12-year-old girl in North Carolina decided to meet two guys she met on Facebook in real-life at a park. They sexually assaulted her. Here’s the ironic part – just 2 days prior, the dad and brother of the girl were robbed when they tried to buy a car from someone on Craigslist! But aside from that – yes, this was a real girl who went out without her parents’ knowledge to meet 2 men she met on the Internet… YES THIS DOES HAPPEN!!! WAKE UP!!!
- A 19-year-old Virginia man was arrested in a sting operation for soliciting what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex. It was an undercover officer… nut the man thought he was sending photos of his unit to the girl and had scheduled a date to have sex with her…
- A student at Southern Utah University has been arrested for soliciting a minor for sex over the internet. Here’s the scary part: 1. He was employed by the Iron County Ambulance service at the time and had worked for a private security company, All American Security… AND 2. He was kicked out of the state’s Department of Public Safety Peace Officer Standards and Training academy after an internal investigation stemming from similar charges took place! But no one ever said anything; they just kicked him out of the program and released him to the wild. Seriously!
Here are the full stories…
September 24, 2009
East Grand Rapids, Wyoming men caught in online predator sting sentenced to prison
By The Grand Rapids Press staffGRAND RAPIDS — One area man was sentenced to prison and a second man pleaded guilty Thursday after they were arrested in a state sting in October targeting online predators.
Nathan Swanson, 22, of Wyoming, was sentenced in Kent County Circuit Court to 18 months to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to using a computer and/or the Internet to communicate to commit a crime. Investigators say Swanson communicated with a minor to arrange a meeting for sex at a Grand Rapids Township home.
Under Swanson’s plea agreement, another computer crime charge and a charge of child sexually abusive activity were dismissed.
Jarrad Box, 24, of East Grand Rapids, pleaded guilty to one count of using a computer to commit a crime. As part of a plea agreement, all other charges were dropped, court record show.
September 28, 2009
Police: Girl, 12, Sexually Assaulted By Facebook FriendsCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police in Charlotte are investigating the second violent crime connected to the Internet in just a few days.
Officers are searching for two men who sexually assaulted at 12-year-old girl.
Her father told police she met the two on the social networking Web site Facebook. He said she met them in person on Saturday on Stillwell Oaks Circle near North Sharon Amity Road and Central Avenue.
Police said the men sexually assaulted her. She did not suffer any serious physical injury.
Just two days before, a father and son were robbed when they tried to buy a car from someone they found on Craigslist.
September 28, 2009
Richmond man convicted in Louisa for soliciting minor
By STAFF REPORTSA 19-year-old Richmond man has been convicted in Louisa County of soliciting sex from a minor.
Robert Cox was arrested in October in a Louisa undercover operation aimed at sexual predators using the Internet to solicit children. Cox is a former employee of a day care center in Henrico County, according to Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Garrett, who did not name the center.
“It is difficult to understand why others would prey on children and it is troubling when that person works at a day care center,” Garrett said.
The arrest came after an investigation by the Child Safety Initiative begun by Louisa in February 2008. Cox, using an Internet screen name, contacted an undercover officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room, according to Garrett’s office. Cox sent a picture of his penis to the girl before arranging a meeting on Oct. 18, 2008, when he was arrested.
Cox is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21.
September 30, 2009
Student makes court appearance on Internet predator charges
By Nur KausarCEDAR CITY – A Southern Utah University student charged with enticing a minor on the Internet appeared in court Tuesday, receiving a preliminary hearing date and public defender.
Barry Louis Marshall, 271 S. 450 West, Cedar City, was arrested Sept. 11 at his residence at the Chi Phi SUU Colony house and charged with two counts of enticing a minor over the Internet, both felony charges, and two counts of lewdness involving a minor, both Class A misdemeanors.
Judge Michael Westfall appointed a public defender because Marshall lost his job with the Iron County Ambulance service since his arrest and his income is still used for tuition and living expenses while he completes his degree.
Unlike other Iron County Sheriff’s Office cases against alleged Internet predators, Marshall is being charged locally because he is a Cedar City resident and did not travel anywhere to meet a minor, ICSO Deputy Nik Johnson said, adding that Marshall was arrested before he physically tried to meet a minor because of his employment with Iron County Ambulance and former employment at private security company All American Security.
A case summary from the Utah Department of Public Safety Peace Officer Standards and Training office revealed Marshall had an Internet crime case out of Davis County that POST took over and investigated, as Marshall was in a POST academy at the time, but kept the investigation and results internal. Marshall did not require sex offender registration because of that.
The Davis County Sheriff’s Office did not have a record of Marshall when contacted.
Marshall was never charged criminally, but was forced to leave the POST academy, according to the summary, and his former employers did not receive information of his case during background checks.
POST investigator Rich Fordham said the council meeting for Marshall’s investigation and actions taken against him were public, with bulletins sent out to law enforcement agencies on POST cases.
“I can’t speak for Iron County Ð I don’t know what kind of background check they did,” Fordham said. “Unfortunately, some things are missed.”
All American Security owner and CEO Drew Corry said Marshall, who has not worked there since October 2008, explained his release from the academy, but did not know if criminal charges had been filed.
Corry’s company did its own investigation and made Marshall a reserve officer only able to work when another officer was with him, Corry said.
The owner added he was shocked and disappointed to hear Marshall was arrested for allegedly sexually enticing a female who told him she was 12.
Marshall bailed out the same weekend he was arrested on $20,000 bail.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 at 9:30 a.m.
