By
Amy Korst,
Andrew Brown,
Hanady Kader,
Sarah Jeglum
May 16, 2007
The state of Washington's history with sex crime prevention isn't a good one, and its high time state agencies taking greater measures to ensure the safety of citizens –— especially children.
Consider the latest high profile case: A Redmond foster father was convicted Monday of sexual exploitation of a minor after having sex with his foster daughter, and he has been accused of abusing two other adopted children.
The conviction came more than 10 years after complaints of abuse began. In fact, Washington's Department of Social and Health Services received no less than 25 complaints between 1996 and 2004 before it finally revoked his license that year, according to The Seattle Times.
The news comes just as eight states including North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania sent a letter to MySpace.com requesting the release of information it has on registered sex offenders.
According to the attorneys general of those states, data they have obtained reveals that thousands of known sex offenders have "been confirmed as MySpace members."
Last year alone, according to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, "almost 100 criminal incidents [were reported] across the country involving adults who used MySpace to prey or attempt to prey on children."
We are left to wonder why Washington's attorney general did not join the others in signing the letter. It's clear sex offender enforcement in our state needs all the help it can get.
3 Comments
#1 Bruce Laidlaw
on May 16, 2007 at 2:28 a.m.(Sydney, Australia | Unverified Name)
I read that MySpace has 10 million members. So there must be plenty of sex offenders there.
The attorneys general claim "thousands of known sex offenders have been confirmed as MySpace members.†How do they know? If Joe Bloggs, of 25 Smith Street is a known sex offender, how have the a-gens determined that he's the same man as JoBlog on MySpace? I hate these news stories that only tell half the story!
#2 WC
on May 16, 2007 at 2:24 p.m.(UW Campus | Unverified Name)
One more example of people wanting the government to do their jobs. In this case they want the government to somehow go through MySpace data to try and find sexual predators rather than supervising their children or perhaps even talking to them and explaining what the dangers of an internet connection and MySpace may be.
#3 Kristin Alexander
on May 17, 2007 at 11:40 a.m.(Olympia, WA | Unverified Name)
Only the attorneys general who comprise an executive working group were given the opportunity to sign onto the letter.
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna did not sign this letter because he was not asked to, but he agrees that more needs to be done to protect children from online predators. He is especially concerned that it is too easy for a sex offender to pose as a minor.
Information about initiatives by the Attorney General's Office to protect our children online and legislation introduced by AG McKenna to protect children in their communities can be found on the office's Web site.
If the information is provided by MySpace, all states including Washington will receive the data.
Kristin Alexander
Seattle Media Relations Manager
Attorney General's Office
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