Two More MySpace Monday (XV) Stories
Ugh… people, you have to understand – ANYONE can join and be a part of the MySpace community… including these two rapists and a drug addict on parole with illegal guns.
If your child is a part of the network, you need to keep an eye on them and know what they are doing. Would you let them go to a strange city by themselves at night to walk down alleys? That is essentially what MySpace is – a virtual city… more like a virtual country. So why would you let your children live/play/visit there unsupervised? Sure there are safe areas and all their friends live there too – but there are also dark alleys, crackhouses and generally bad places…
But you can know who they talk to, who they are friends with, where they go (e.g. the groups they participate in) and everything else they do online with computer monitoring software like PC Pandora. It’s not spying, it’s being a strong and well-informed, responsible 21st century parent.
While neither of these stories involves a minor, it doesn’t mean you should turn your head… In one story, an 18-year-old girl was raped by two 21-year-old men she met on MySpace; in the other story a man on probation for drug charges posted pictures of himself with illegal firearms on MySpace.
Sure you want to let your kids play in the same area where guys like this are…?
October 06, 2009
Two men sentenced for raping girl they met on MySpaceSentencing is scheduled Tuesday for two men who gang-raped an 18-year-old Palomar College student they met on MySpace.
Brian Shippee, 21, of San Marcos, and Vincent Barnett, Jr., 21, were arrested in February in San Marcos and Escondido.
Barnett wrote on his MySpace page: “I like to go out and party. Yeah I get a little out of hand sometimes…. I’m looking for a good girl that can have fun with and not get tired of.”
A third man, Robert Melgoza, also pleaded guilty, but will not be sentenced Tuesday.
Melgoza was taken into custody in Phoenix.
October 09, 2009
Iowa man sent to prison on gun chargesCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids man who pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge after being spotted on MySpace holding a rifle and a handgun has been sentenced to a year in prison.
Gamaliet Figueroa was on probation for drug charges when his probation officer found photographs of him with the guns on the social networking site in 2007.
Officers searched his home and found a semiautomatic rifle loaded with 23 rounds.
Figueroa pleaded guilty in July to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He was sentenced on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.