MySpace: Social networking can be risky; Cops warn parents of MySpace risks
By Lorna Jablonski, Okeechobee News

There are 983 registered members of MySpace within a 20-mile radius of Okeechobee and 3,000 within a 50-mile radius of town. The popular site has become a magnet to pedophiles and other unsavory characters who prey on the under-aged site members. Okeechobee News/Lorna Jablonski

Law enforcement agencies are attempting to educate parents and other concerned citizens of the risks involved with their children's use of the highly popular internet social networking site, MySpace.com.

According to Detective Brad Stark of the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office (OCSO), there are 983 registered members on MySpace within a 20-mile radius of Okeechobee and 3,000 within a 50-mile radius of town. With 117 registered sex offenders and predators living in Okeechobee, it is impossible to know how many, if any at all, are registered with MySpace under fictitious names.

MySpace is a website that offers an interactive, user-submitted network with personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos. It also has an internal search engine and an internal e-mail system.

The website, according to Wikipedia.org, is currently ranked as the sixth most popular English-language website in the world and the third most popular website in the United States. It reportedly has a members ranging from 50 million to 154 million.

The site was allegedly created by Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson in July 2003. The exact origin of the site has recently been under dispute. It was also partly owned by Intermix Media, which was purchased by News Corporation, the parent company of Fox Broadcasting and other media enterprises, in July 2005.

The offices of MySpace are located in Santa Monica, Calif., while News Corporation is headquartered in New York City.

What began as a way for young people to communicate and socialize with others, has now become a way for pedophiles and unsavory characters to gain information about the site's underage members.

Becoming a member of MySpace is easy. All you need is a computer with internet access. After accessing their website, you just sign up and create your own profile. This profile is your space on the site where you can type in a description of yourself, your hobbies, interests and friends. You can also post pictures. Then, you can invite your friends to join your personal network.

If you decide not to personally invite friends, you can search the site for friends who are already members. You can also view the profiles of your friends' friends. The site was originally set up for persons over 18 years old. The age requirement has since been dropped to 14 years old. Profiles with ages set at 14 or 15 are automatically registered as "private" and are only accessible to a member's direct friends.

"One of the biggest issues with MySpace is there is no privacy," stated Detective Stark. "Even though the profile is listed as private, kids have found ways to get around the rules."

Members began to take advantage of the site and have lied about their ages and given out personal information to persons they do not know. In some instances, they began posting inappropriate pictures and commentary.

The easy access to young members has acted like a magnet to the unsavory members of society.

A soccer coach in California was recently arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl he met on MySpace.com He allegedly lured her to a home in Richmond under the guise of signing a modeling contract.

In Denver, Colo., six men suspected of stealing $40,000 worth of items from a home - and raping the girl who invited them over after meeting them on MySpace.com - were identified through their MySpace profiles.

A 21-year-old man in Arizona was arrested on suspicion of two counts of sexual conduct with a minor after meeting a 16-year-old female on MySpace.com and striking up a friendship with her. The underage female used a computer at the local public library to chat with the suspect.

In San Francisco a local newspaper found five registered sex offenders and predators listed on MySpace, simply by running their names through the site's search engine.

In June 2006, a 16-year-old girl flew to the Middle East after tricking her parents into getting her a passport in order to be with a 20-year-old man she met through MySpace.

The site, however, has also assisted law enforcement in the apprehension of various criminals.

In Fontana, Calif., a group of boys posing as a 15-year-old girl for an internet prank assisted police in the arrest of a 48-year-old man who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex. The boys created the fictitious girl and gave her a made-up profile in order to cheer up a friend who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. But, they got more than they bargained for when a man began sending messages to the "girl" and their conversations began to turn sexual in nature.

The man sent the "girl" a picture and arranged to meet her in a local park. The boys went to the park and called the police when the man arrived.

Maryland State Police arrested a couple in connection with child abuse charges and a drug investigation after a juvenile's MySpace.com forum entry was read. According to police, a 12 year old had traveled from Port St. Lucie to Maryland to visit her father for the holidays. During her visit, she was allegedly given cocaine and marijuana by her father and stepmother. After returning to Port St. Lucie, the girl wrote about the drug usage on MySpace and then told her mother. Her mother then contacted Maryland police.

In Brevard County, a man is accused of using MySpace to meet a 13-year-old girl and then allegedly raping her.

Law enforcement officials stated that he met the girl last year on MySpace and began talking with her in an unregulated chat room. When they realized they both lived in Satellite Beach, they decided to meet.

The girl told police that the man brought her to an alcohol- and marijuana-filled party at a local apartment complex in June 2005. After the party, they went for a walk on the beach for what the girl thought was to talk. The man had other ideas.

In addition to sexual predators, street gangs can be found on MySpace. They have their own web page, blogs, photos and videos.

Recently MySpace stated that it had deleted about 200,000 of what it called objectionable posts after receiving complaints from lawmakers and parents.

In January, MySpace teamed up with Sentinel Technology to donate database tools to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to help get sex offenders off online sites.

The Sentinel Safe database system is a tool that MySpace has been developing to let it and third parties block sex offenders from its site. The NCMEC will use the system to help law enforcement. The system currently houses information on about 600,000 registered sex offenders in the United States. The Sentinel system receives most updates from local sex offender registries.

MySpace and Sentinel Tech will provide all research and development necessary to fit the system to the NCMEC's needs.

Unfortunately, the system does not stop potential members from lying about themselves to obtain membership to the site.

Until something can be done to truly insure the safety of the site's underage members, the responsibility falls on parents and guardians of the children using MySpace.