Arrests involving blogging

The Houston Chronicle's story calls MySpace "the Studio 54 for the Internet set. And just like the seminal disco-era nightclub, MySpace has transcended being a place 'to see and be seen' and become a cultural benchmark." But with no bouncers, and the "carding" at registration doesn't really work. There are some safeguards for younger teens who enter these social-networking "nightclubs," but they do little to stop contact with much older people. The Chronicle tells of two arrests in the Houston area, one involving charges of sexual assault, one that resulted from a sting operation, after the child told her father, who went to the police. In Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reported that "federal law enforcement officials implored parents Thursday to keep a close watch on their children's Internet activities as they announced the arrests of two out-of-state men they say had sexual contact with two young girls [14 and 11] they encountered on MySpace.com." Posts in the site led to phone calls, then to in-person meetings, in one case in the girl's home, in the other a Danbury mall. The Courant cites the view of an FBI agent on the case as saying that monitoring of kids is "crucial between 3 and 5 pm, when children are usually home from school and parents are still working." [Thanks to Det. Frank Dannahey for pointing out the latter story (see his commentary, 1/20).]