Pedophiles on Dateline NBC

[DolphinChicaDDD]

What is kind of disturbing is how easy it is to pretend to be younger on the internet. I think most kids don't realize it because they all want to be older that they can't imagine people wanting to be younger.

For instance, I didn't want my students to see my myspace profile so I made it friends only. In order to make it friends only, I had to change my year of birth to make me under 18. With some quick subtraction, I was 14. I went from 23 to 14 in less than a minute. And now I can see the profiles of people under 18, where as before I couldn't. That really kinda distrubed me. Along with what some of these kids are wearing in the pictures!!!

[alum]

I saw Dateline last night (Corona CA edition) and they did have the police waiting outside. I also saw the VA one a few months ago and was disappointed the pedophiles got away. Perhaps Dateline and the advocacy group Perverted Justice (?) learned something.

In terms of pedophiles accessing myspace and facebook. many people I know monitor their kids' Myspace sites. When I allowed my kids to set MySpace up, we changed the ages to be older and have no identifying data on them whatsoever. This may not protect them completely but it is a start. Neither of them are allowed to belong to Myspace groups that would aid in identifying them either. Mr. Alum and I also monitor internet use at our house.

Originally posted by AchtungBaby80
Yeah, I watched it the first time it came on and it really made we worry about my younger sister...she's in high school and she spends a lot of time online, and I'm afraid she's going to run into some psycho freaks. Not that she would ever arrange to meet them or anything because my parents are really strict and she's hardly ever out of their sight, but still. Knowing that she might come into contact with perverts like that is disconcerting.

I want to echo this because no matter how careful your daughter/son/sister/brother is, they put themselves at risk just by participating in chat rooms/message boards/Myspace, etc.

I started playing on the Internet over 10 years ago when I was still a sophomore in HS (remember BBS?). I belonged to an AOL Hawaii Chat room and despite only revealing my age and name, a sicko somehow found out what school I went to and even my old pager number. How he was able to find that out, we still don't know. After stalking me afterschool my family eventually had to put out a restraining order on him. We never heard from him again. Nevertheless, it was really scary. Back then not too many people were familiar with BBS, chat rooms, etc. so it wasn't a big deal.

I'm glad that brother and sisters are strict with their kids' internet usage. Most of my nieces and nephews have their own laptops, but they can only log on to the Internet in the living room. It's good to know that many middle and high schools have blocked out MySpace at the same time!

[alum]

At my older child's hs, the only email accessible through the school is the school-based email account. The younger one can't email anyone through the school.

[madmax]

I think the perverts are getting screwed. If a guy has sex with an underage girl that lies about her age, he gets locked up because the girl was actually underage. If a guy goes to have sex with an underage girl that is actually a 40 year old cybercop posing as an underage girl then he still gets locked up.

It should be one or the other. Either intent or the actual age, not both.

[hoosier]

Originally posted by madmax
I think the perverts are getting screwed. .

And the downside of that is?

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by madmax
I think the perverts are getting screwed.

Maybe that's one of the reasons they get arrested.

[AznSAE]

i was checking out this site:

http://www12.familywatchdog.us/

there are 357 offenders around where i am, but 2 are like a stone throws away.

at my parents place, 202 are in the area but there is 1 person right down the road. scary!

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

My mom teaches 4th grade. Every time she switches schools I'll plug the new school's address in... there are usually four or five within a block of the elementary school.


Here's me saying something no one's going to agree with:

I think the system we have going now is unconstitutional. Either you're a pedophile and you should be locked away from society for life (and I think we probably have enough statistics to support this) or you've done your time in jail and you're cured and you shouldn't be on these registries.

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
I think the system we have going now is unconstitutional. Either you're a pedophile and you should be locked away from society for life (and I think we probably have enough statistics to support this) or you've done your time in jail and you're cured and you shouldn't be on these registries.

I (partially) agree - either we're going to keep up the illusion that the legal system is for rehabilitation and that the person has performed their debt to society, or we have to actually address the problem with stiffer sentences/alternative punishments.

To wit, laws that prevent sex offenders from living within xxxx miles of a church/school/whatever are actually horrendous ideas.

First, most sex offenses are commited by a relative or other known person - and not at church or school. It doesn't address the actual problem very well.

Second, by regulating where sex offenders CAN'T live, you push them into one of two scenarios - either concentrated into the few 'allowed' areas (thus screwing, figuratively, those that live in that area), or they lie and/or don't put themselves on the sex offender list.

Third, it's most likely not viable under the law of the United States to prevent someone from living in a town because of their status as a (former?) criminal, and many laws move offenders so far from a church/school that essentially the entire town is off-limits.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

I like what a well-thought out argument this is.

Especially considering you totally called me a Hep C pos hooka in another thread.

Want to be best friends?

[Lady of Pearl]

Those men really need help ! I couldn't believe how pathetic they looked -and how their sickness so consumed them! One was even a rabbi at a temple!

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
I like what a well-thought out argument this is.

Especially considering you totally called me a Hep C pos hooka in another thread.

Want to be best friends?

[Tippiechick]

Originally posted by hoosier
Dateline NBC had an expose tonight on pedophiles, who use the internet to arrange 'dates' with children - and the people who track them. NBC set up a home full of hidden cameras, and arranged for 19 of the pervs to meet their 'dates' at the house.

It was pretty funny in a few cases.

One perv agreed to come to the house, and the 'date' told him to enter via the garage and remove his clothes. He did, and walked into the house expecting to see his 'date' naked too.

He didn't realize he was on camera, and talked to the NBC guy about his 'problem' and the need to get help (and he was seeing a shrink, he said).

The funny part - the very next day he was back on the internet, looking for a date, and the NBC camera caught him at a restaurant where he had agreed to meet a 'date.'

http://www.perverted-justice.com/

Hmmph. Ironic, no?

[Kevin]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Without body armour.

Wearing t-shirts depicting Mohammed wearing a bomb on his head.