As technology becomes increasingly more complex, law enforcement has to evolve to keep up with the modern perpetrator.
Adam Lebowitz, an ex-Grady Hospital doctor infected with HIV, was arrested in Coweta last November after allegedly soliciting sex from a teenage boy he met on the Internet.
Lebowitz was charged with criminal attempt to commit aggravated child molestation, to sexually exploit a child, to commit statutory rape, to commit aggravated sodomy, as well as reckless conduct — for knowingly exposing a person to the AIDS virus, which is a felony — and obstruction of law enforcement, according to Assistant District Attorney Kevin McMurry in a previous interview with The Times-Herald.
Lebowitz has since been indicted and arraigned and is awaiting trial. He also faces similar charges out of Clayton and DeKalb counties.
Recently, the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com created a database as a means to identify and remove registered sex offenders from its online community. Officials with the online site have also agreed to share sex offender data — how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they live — with attorneys general from eight states, according to The Associated Press.
MySpace general counsel Mike Angus announced that the site has already used the database to remove about 7,000 profiles out of a total of about 180 million, according to the AP.
Federal privacy laws require states to file subpoenas or other legal requests before MySpace can release the information.
Sgt. Mike McGuffey, an investigator at the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office who primarily handles the local sex offender list, is pleased that MySpace has started to share information with law enforcement.
“Predators should have absolutely zero access to places where children congregate, whether that be in public places or on the Internet,” said McGuffey.
McGuffey has been receiving increasingly more reports of incidents that occur online. He admits to using MySpace as “a resource” in solving crimes, although this new resource sometimes complicates the process.
While McGuffey feels the progress being made with MySpace has the potential of making the Web site a slightly safer place for young people to investigate, he points out that technology continues to evolve and predators will invent new ways of targeting the public. Safety against online predators starts in the home, according to the investigator.
“Ultimately, it ought to be up to the parents — it’s their responsibility to take care of their children,” said McGuffey. “Parents should be more involved in their children’s lives than in anything else. They need to set rules and enforce punishment when those rules are broken.”
Parents are advised to monitor their children’s online activities and not allow free reign. Sometimes, children will think that setting their profile to “private” will prevent their personal information from being compromised. But it won’t, reminds McGuffey.
“Even grownups should be careful on the Internet,” said McGuffey.
He especially cautions against dating Web sites, because predators often seek out common interests as a way into that person’s life. Adults are advised against posting pictures of their children online for potential offenders to see.
“A child predator will zero in on your children,” he continued.
Overall, America appears to be more aware of the dangers lurking on the Internet, according to McGuffey. Programs such as Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” have educated parents and children about how easy it is to fall victim to a predator and how bold these offenders can be. However, according to the investigator, the program is also educating the predator about the justice system and may, in some cases, help the person commit crimes more effectively.
“A true predator is going to do whatever it takes to get to his victim — wherever children congregate, he will be there.”
The following is a list of tips for navigating safely online:
* Just as in public, people should not talk to strangers.
* Parents should set computer filters and activate security features on all home computers whenever possible.
* Don’t allow children to have Internet access in their bedroom.
* Check the computer’s Internet history to see what sites have been visited.
* Finally, never underestimate what people are capable of.
Written by Elizabeth Richardson