NC- Policing social networking for sexual predators

The problem with these laws affecting RSOs is that they have an underlying premise, that a "social networking" website is one that allows one to setup a profile and communicate with other persons, and that RSOs are the only ones who will solicit minors on those sites. Besides the fact that it makes too many assumptions, and everyone knows how to spell ass-u-me, it prohibits political and religious expression on the Internet on social networking sites. Lawmakers and religious folks have MySpace and Facebook accounts and urge folks to visit them there to learn about many things political and religious in nature, including how to vote, these laws prohibit RSOs from exercising such political and religious endeavors. These laws are over-broad and as such will be the downfall of them, but not until a good lawyer decides to attack them. Where is that lawyer?

4-27-2009 North Carolina:

Starting in May, new laws will place more restrictions on sex offenders living in North Carolina.

In Cumberland County, the Sheriff’s Office will be responsible for enforcing those laws.

One makes it illegal for a registered sex offender to use a social networking Web site accessible to minors. The second requires sex offenders to provide officers with their e-mail addresses and user IDs and is similar to federal legislation passed in late 2008.

The latter bill takes affect May 1, and Debbie Tanna, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said the department is preparing to handle the influx of information.

Registered sex offenders who don’t comply can face penalties of a year or more in prison.

Although the new laws require offenders to provide lawmen with more information, investigators say the new data is not likely to result in more arrests.

Tanna said there’s no way to ensure offenders comply.

But the threat of jail time will be motivation enough for some.

Internet monitoring
Sgt. Greg Mills, of the department’s Special Victims Unit, said that those likely to use the Internet to prey on juveniles will probably not comply with the new laws.

He already uses the Internet to find child predators by posing as a juvenile in chat rooms and on social networking sites.

Mills, who is 48, is a teenage girl to those who frequent the Internet.

On a recent Tuesday morning, his online persona cut class and joined an online chat room. After logging in, Mills crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. Within seconds, he was bombarded by requests to chat. Most of the conversations ended abruptly when Mills said his persona’s age — 13. But within 15 minutes — and with little to no prodding — one man who identified himself as being 30 years old and from Fayetteville was asking for the measurements and sexual history of Mills’ online persona.

“I pretty much let them lead the conversation,” Mills said. “You just kind of fish.”

On Tuesday, it didn’t take him long to get a bite.

“o u looking to get into trouble huh?” the unidentified 30-year-old man typed. “so u a virgin?”

Mills has conducted similar undercover operations for the Sheriff’s Office since 2006. He said he’s been targeting predators on social networks for about two years.

“It doesn’t matter where you go to. You’re going to get hit on by somebody,” Mills said. “It’s not rocket science.”

The difficult part, he said, is keeping up with changes in Internet trends and new technologies, such as improved cell phone cameras and mobile Internet capabilities that make it harder to shield juveniles from tech-savvy predators.

“It changes constantly,” Mills said. “Staying on top of it is the hardest part.”

Rise in arrests
A national study released in March shows that as Web use has risen among youth, so have arrests of online predators.

The Internet is the new frontier for sexual predators, and legislators and lawmen have pushed for more controls to combat the problem.

Mills said the focus is typically on the better-known social networks, such as MySpace or Facebook.

But, he said, there are hundreds of others. According to the law, a social networking site is any site or service where users can make a profile and interact with others. That includes popular chat applications such as Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger.

According to the study from the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center, more than 3,000 arrests were made in 2006 after online predators solicited undercover lawmen posing as juveniles. That compares with 644 arrests in 2000.

The study looked at nationwide arrest data related to online predators.

It found that most arrests come after predators solicit lawmen. In 2006, 615 predators were arrested for soliciting juveniles. That represented a 21 percent increase from 2000, but the study points out that over the same period, Internet usage by youth grew between 73 percent and 93 percent.

At one time, worries about sex offenders were limited to who was living in the neighborhood.

But with the Internet, law enforcement, parents and lawmakers also have to be concerned about the countless number of sex offenders who live across the world.

Keeping track
The Sheriff’s Office has two deputies who work on keeping track of sex offenders. Tanna said they have begun to put an emphasis on locating sex offenders on the Internet.

Despite the staffing challenges, Tanna said the department wasn’t looking to hire more investigators to keep pace with the extra workload.

“We have to work with what we’ve got,” she said. “We do a pretty good job.”

She said deputies are already stretched thin, especially with the department overseeing police duties in Spring Lake. If any adjustments are needed once the new laws take affect, the department will have to get creative, Tanna said.

Tanna said investigators have already found several registered offenders on social networking sites and they expect to find more once the offenders are required to submit their information.

One of the biggest challenges will be tracking down registered sex offenders who use fake identities online, Tanna said.

For that, investigators will rely on the cooperation of parents and others, Mills said.

He encouraged anyone who suspects his child is falling victim to a predator or who knows of a registered sex offender using a social networking site to notify the authorities.

“How are we going to catch these guys?” he said. “It’s going to depend on the public.”

‘A parent’s nightmare’Attorney General Roy Cooper has made it a priority to address the issue of sex offenders on the Internet, specifically those who use social networking sites frequented by youth.

Cooper said the emphasis he’s placed on the issue comes from his dual roles as chief law enforcement officer for the state and a parent of three girls, including two teens.

“It’s a parent’s nightmare to have a predator solicit a child or lure that child out of the house,” he said. “The Internet gives predators the opportunity to groom several children at the same time.”

The two largest social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, have each taken steps to combat the abuse of their networks and supported federal legislation to help combat misuse by keeping registered sex offenders off the sites.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said the steps were preventative and not in response to any problem.

“We have not yet had to handle a case of a registered sex offender meeting a minor through Facebook,” he said. “We are working hard to make sure it never happens.”

According to the University of New Hampshire study, arrests for online predators in 2006 constituted about 1percent of all arrests for sex crimes against children.

The study said there was no evidence that the Internet was fueling an epidemic of sex crimes against youth, and there was no evidence of predators using social networking sites to stalk or abduct unsuspecting victims.

Cooper said it was important for parents to be involved in their child’s Internet use.

He said that parents shouldn’t spy, but they should place the computer in a central location and develop a level of trust with their child. He also advocated the use of parental controls that are age-appropriate.

Web sites’ responses
With more than 300million users between them, representatives from Facebook and MySpace said the companies have responded to safety concerns.

MySpace has partnered with an online identity and background verification company, Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., to improve its ability to find and remove sex offenders.

“We are committed to keeping sex offenders off MySpace,” said the Web site’s chief security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, a former federal Internet crimes prosecutor and child safety advocate.

The company also has put a number of barriers in place to limit an adult’s ability to search for juveniles.

Facebook also searches for registered sex offenders and monitors its users for suspicious activity.

“Protecting our users, especially the many children who use our site has always been a top priority for Facebook,” said Schnitt. ..News Source.. by Drew Brooks, Staff writer