This is kinda long but read carefully,just when you think you know people.
Undercover police seek child predators online
By TRACI SHURLEY
Lake Worth Star-Telegram
STAR-TELEGRAM/RODGER MALLISON
Lake Worth police Janelle Adams, J.R. Pringle, Brett McGuire and Sammy Garcia use the Internet to look for child predators.
LAKE WORTH, Florida — When officer Sammy Garcia logs into an Internet chat room posing as a 13-year-old girl, he doesn't have to wait long before finding someone who wants to talk.
This time, it's a man who says he's 27. At first, he thinks that Garcia's alter-ego is 18.
Being told she's 13, however, doesn't slow the man down.
He asks several times to see a picture, and his insistence sends up a red flag. Garcia keeps chatting. He also grabs a slim blue memory device, pops it into the back of his laptop and begins saving their conversation.
Another investigation has begun.
Big city investigators and network news shows aren't the only ones going undercover online to catch potential sex offenders.
In Broward and surrounding counties, smaller agencies are getting involved. Many team with the state attorney general's office to make arrests, but others, like the Lake Worth Police Department, are going it alone.
"Just like any other criminal, they're everywhere," Garcia said. "Just because we're a small city doesn't mean they'll stay out."
Since Jan. 1, Lake Worth police have arrested seven men they say came to town to meet with a "teenager" they'd talked with online. In Springtown, officers have been making arrests for online solicitation for at least two years, Chief Mark Krey said.
Prosecutors say the investigations yield stronger evidence than typical child-sex offenses, providing them with pages of electronic documents to use against suspects in court. Attorneys who defend those suspects say their clients aren't the predators and suggest that police are encouraging them to cross a line they otherwise wouldn't.
Garcia, Krey and other law enforcement officials say they're protecting their communities.
"If we're not out there having conversations with these guys, we know there's other kids out there having conversations with them and becoming victims of these predators," Krey said.
Police entrapment?
The suspects arrested by Lake Worth police are mainly from South Florida.Two, Brian Finch of Coral Springs and Louis Eiber of Ft Lauderdale, are in their mid- to late twenties. Others, including Mike Jankawitz of Miami,Ben Micheals of Miami Beach, and Jack Russel of Ft Lauderdale are in their 20s.
Except for Finch, each is charged with online solicitation of a minor under 14, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Ficnh was charged with solicitation of aggravated sexual assault of a child, also a second-degree felony. Investigators said Finch met them online, then set up a meeting with a telephone call.
The cases have yet to go to trial, but Garcia and others believe they'll be convicted.
Defense lawyers say their clients aren't predators.
DANGERS ONLINE
The following are excerpts from the first few minutes of an August 2005 online chat between Weatherford Police officer Marc Gray and Micheal Weatherford, who believed he was speaking to a 12-year-old girl. Micheal was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Gray: what do u look like
stprorolla49: I am a hot man looking for love. I do like the young girls. Is that ok???
Gray: im a young girl so i hope its ok
stprorolla49: I mean that I like to have sex with girls ur age. Is that ok??
Within 20 minutes,Micheal asks to meet:
stprorolla49: I will do what ever is needed.
Gray: there is a motel close to my house, a days inn. we could go there
stprorolla49: Orlando is a drive for me but I could do it. When is good for u?
SOURCE: Florida Attorney General's Cyber Crimes Unit
Undercover police seek child predators online
By TRACI SHURLEY
Lake Worth Star-Telegram
STAR-TELEGRAM/RODGER MALLISON
Lake Worth police Janelle Adams, J.R. Pringle, Brett McGuire and Sammy Garcia use the Internet to look for child predators.
LAKE WORTH, Florida — When officer Sammy Garcia logs into an Internet chat room posing as a 13-year-old girl, he doesn't have to wait long before finding someone who wants to talk.
This time, it's a man who says he's 27. At first, he thinks that Garcia's alter-ego is 18.
Being told she's 13, however, doesn't slow the man down.
He asks several times to see a picture, and his insistence sends up a red flag. Garcia keeps chatting. He also grabs a slim blue memory device, pops it into the back of his laptop and begins saving their conversation.
Another investigation has begun.
Big city investigators and network news shows aren't the only ones going undercover online to catch potential sex offenders.
In Broward and surrounding counties, smaller agencies are getting involved. Many team with the state attorney general's office to make arrests, but others, like the Lake Worth Police Department, are going it alone.
"Just like any other criminal, they're everywhere," Garcia said. "Just because we're a small city doesn't mean they'll stay out."
Since Jan. 1, Lake Worth police have arrested seven men they say came to town to meet with a "teenager" they'd talked with online. In Springtown, officers have been making arrests for online solicitation for at least two years, Chief Mark Krey said.
Prosecutors say the investigations yield stronger evidence than typical child-sex offenses, providing them with pages of electronic documents to use against suspects in court. Attorneys who defend those suspects say their clients aren't the predators and suggest that police are encouraging them to cross a line they otherwise wouldn't.
Garcia, Krey and other law enforcement officials say they're protecting their communities.
"If we're not out there having conversations with these guys, we know there's other kids out there having conversations with them and becoming victims of these predators," Krey said.
Police entrapment?
The suspects arrested by Lake Worth police are mainly from South Florida.Two, Brian Finch of Coral Springs and Louis Eiber of Ft Lauderdale, are in their mid- to late twenties. Others, including Mike Jankawitz of Miami,Ben Micheals of Miami Beach, and Jack Russel of Ft Lauderdale are in their 20s.
Except for Finch, each is charged with online solicitation of a minor under 14, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Ficnh was charged with solicitation of aggravated sexual assault of a child, also a second-degree felony. Investigators said Finch met them online, then set up a meeting with a telephone call.
The cases have yet to go to trial, but Garcia and others believe they'll be convicted.
Defense lawyers say their clients aren't predators.
DANGERS ONLINE
The following are excerpts from the first few minutes of an August 2005 online chat between Weatherford Police officer Marc Gray and Micheal Weatherford, who believed he was speaking to a 12-year-old girl. Micheal was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Gray: what do u look like
stprorolla49: I am a hot man looking for love. I do like the young girls. Is that ok???
Gray: im a young girl so i hope its ok
stprorolla49: I mean that I like to have sex with girls ur age. Is that ok??
Within 20 minutes,Micheal asks to meet:
stprorolla49: I will do what ever is needed.
Gray: there is a motel close to my house, a days inn. we could go there
stprorolla49: Orlando is a drive for me but I could do it. When is good for u?
SOURCE: Florida Attorney General's Cyber Crimes Unit