N.J. Targets MySpace Molesters ; Demands the Removal of Sex Offenders From Site

May 24, 02:41 PM

Current Headlines: By JASON TSAI, STAFF WRITER

New Jersey on Wednesday became the ninth state to subpoena information about in-state sex offenders who have created user accounts on the social networking site MySpace.com.

Attorney General Stuart Rabner filed the request with the goal of ensuring that the Internet giant fulfills its promise to remove all registered sex offenders, authorities said.

"The challenge of protecting our children demands constant vigilance," Rabner said. "The Internet is a great learning tool, but can also be a place where predators lurk."

In addition to names and e-mail addresses, the subpoena requests the dates that convicted New Jersey sex offenders had their MySpace pages flagged by the site, and when these accounts were deleted.

This information to be turned over to the state by June 4 will then be shared with state Internet crimes detectives and the New Jersey Parole Board, said David Wald, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

"Primarily, we want to ensure that MySpace has the software and capacity to identify and remove" the convicted sex offenders, Wald said.

MySpace allows users to set up personal pages where individuals can contact other users and post pictures, personal information and blogs. The company reportedly has nearly 180 million users, many of them minors.

It was unclear how many New Jersey names would be provided. The state has 2,300 registered sex offenders, according to New Jersey State Police.

Experts heralded the Wednesday announcement, but cautioned its benefits will only be revealed once the information is provided.

"Any time you take an affirmative step to monitor sexual- offender activity, though, that's a step in the right direction," said Andrew Donofrio, a detective sergeant in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office computer crimes unit.

Donofrio said his unit subpoenas MySpace for information about individuals at least "four to five times per month," normally in cases where an adult has posted sexually suggestive material on an underage Bergen County resident's page.

"Our experience has been that MySpace has been very law- enforcement-friendly," he said.

Last week, MySpace, owned by News Corp., said it removed about 7,000 convicted sex offenders from across the country who had been using the site. These names were culled after MySpace developed technology with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., an online identity verification company, which meshed MySpace databases with state sex offender registries.

MySpace announced Monday that it would share this data with law enforcement officials in Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi and New Hampshire. On Wednesday, MySpace handed over information about 245 registered sex offenders to North Carolina authorities.

Parry Aftab, a Fort Lee-based Internet security expert, said the names are likely an incomplete tally of all dangerous online predators.

The 7,000 names from MySpace's databases do not include unregistered sex offenders, she noted, or people who use aliases and other incorrect information to conceal their identities.

Not all individuals listed on sex offender lists are child molesters, Aftab added.

"The 7,000 names can surely structure a safer network, but I would much rather we focus on educating the public," she said. "We should be thrilled that MySpace is complying with releasing the names, but much more can be done from here."

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E-mail: tsai@northjersey.com

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