TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: New Jersey Says 141 Sex Offenders Use My Space


New Jersey Says 141 Sex Offenders Use My Space


Jon Hurdle, Reuters (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:58:17 -0500

By Jon Hurdle

More than 140 sex offenders convicted in New Jersey had profiles on
the networking Web site MySpace, the state's attorney general said on
Tuesday.

New Jersey is among several states leading the way in working with
MySpace to curb online sexual predators.

Of the 141 sex offenders identified as having been active on MySpace,
80 were found to be on parole or probation, and officials are working
to determine if those individuals violated the terms of their
sentences, said David Wald, a spokesman for New Jersey Attorney
General Anne Milgram.

The identified individuals may now be subject to tougher prohibitions
against using the Internet, Wald said.

Those identified are among a national total of about 7,000 registered
sex offenders whose names were deleted and handed over by Fox
Interactive Media, the owner of MySpace, to law enforcement authorities
in all 50 states in late May.

"We have proof in hand to confirm the worst fears of New Jersey's
concerned parents and educators: that sex offenders are active on Web
sites used by children and educators," Milgram said in a statement.

Milgram called the information provided by MySpace a first step and
warned that other sexual offenders may still be surfing the Internet.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, one
in seven American children between the ages of 10 and 17 is sexually
solicited online.

Officials are now working with MySpace to determine whether the
identified sex offenders solicited any children for sex while active
on the Web site.

To protect children from sexual predators, Milgram urged parents to
keep computers in common areas of the house rather than in a child's
bedroom, to monitor the Web sites they visit, and to warn children
about the dangers of sexual predators.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited.

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