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Trenton,
NJ – Attorney General Anne Milgram
today asked a dozen Internet social networking
sites to determine whether convicted New
Jersey sex offenders have created profiles
on their websites, following reports that
the popular networking site MySpace had
identified 29,000 profiles on its site that
had been created by convicted sex offenders.
Milgram
wrote to 12 other social networking sites
asking them to conduct a similar review
of individuals who have created profiles
on their sites. At least 269 convicted New
Jersey sex offenders had profiles on MySpace,
according to information provided by MySpace
in response to civil subpoenas issued by
the Attorney General.
Milgram
said she expected that MySpace users had
profiles on other social networking sites
and wanted to guard against those convicted
sex offenders whose profiles were removed
by MySpace simply switching to other Internet
sites.
“MySpace’s
identification of such a large number of
registered sex offenders on its site underscores
the need for awareness and action by all
networking sites,’’ Milgram
said. “Together we can make the Internet
safer from the dangers posed by sexual predators
who may use social networking sites to search
for and contact potential victims.’’
The
Attorney General said the state would assist
the websites in their review by providing
them with information about New Jersey residents
convicted of sex offenses. But she also
noted that information about certain convicted
sex offenders is publicly available through
New Jersey’s Sex Offender Registry,
which can be accessed at the New Jersey
State Police Web site at www.njsp.org/info/reg_sexoffend.html.
The Attorney General’s letter was
sent to Xanga.com, Facebook, Community Connect,
TagWorld, Bebo, MyYearbook.com, Tagged,
Friendster, LiveJournal, Imeem, Hi5, and
Gaia Online.
The
Attorney General’s Office has issued
three subpoenas to MySpace, following the
disclosure earlier this year that the website,
through a partnership with an identity verification
firm, had been able to identify convicted
sex offenders with profiles on the website.
Once identified, the profiles were deleted.
Information
obtained from the subpoenas disclosed that
there were 269 registered New Jersey sex
offenders with MySpace profiles. Among that
group, State Parole Board and State Probation
officials identified 109 individuals who
are on probation or parole. The State Parole
Board charged one individual who appeared
on the list of MySpace users with a parole
violation related to Internet use.
Information
provided by MySpace has included names,
e-mail addresses and IP addresses of convicted
sex offenders who had registered with state
authorities. It has not yet been determined
how their time was spent on the web. (For
example, whether they had been in contact
with minors.) The 141 convicted New Jersey
sex offenders initially identified with
MySpace profiles had logged onto MySpace
34,000 times during the time they were registered
with the networking site, which ranged from
a few months to two years. Many individuals
logged onto the site hundreds of times.
The
State Parole Board has administrative authority
to impose special conditions of supervision
to address sex offender behavior. Similarly,
sex offenders on probation supervision can
have their conditions of probation modified,
if warranted. Convicted sex offenders who
are not on parole or probation are monitored
by law enforcement for compliance with change
of address reporting requirements under
Megan’s Law.
At
the request of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, the
Department of Law and Public Safety and
the Department of Education are developing
an Internet safety training curriculum for
teachers and administrators in all New Jersey
schools. Regional training sessions are
planned for the fall.
>>
AG's
Social Networking Letter (77k pdf) plug-in
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