Thegatewaynews.com - Digital age is the newest tool for sex offenders

by Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier staff writer

Sex offenders continue to pose challenges to parents, police and legislators as the digital age allows for new methods to commit sex-related offenses.

In recent years, Internet chat rooms and social networking sites have created forums for sexual predators to search for young victims.

A Record-Courier comparison of the 35 registered sex offenders currently living in Kent to account names on the networking site Facebook.com revealed 11 profiles with names matching those of the sexual offenders. The comparison also showed one active account with the name and photograph matching that of a man convicted of raping a female child in 2001.

In 2007, a Record-Couriercomparison showed at least 17 of the then 142 registered sex offenders in Portage County had profiles on MySpace.com.

Some states have introduced legislation to block a sex offender's access to such sites, and the sites themselves do police their members to an extent.

But cell phones and "sexting" are proving to be the latest front in the war on sex-related crimes.

In May, Brimfield police arrested two men from the Akron-Canton area who were accused of using a cell phone and computer to solicit sex from girls under the age of 18.

"My belief is that it goes on everywhere," Brimfield Police Chief David Blough said. "It's indicative of the times we live in with technology being where it is. Just because a person texts you and tells you they are 17, or you meet them on Facebook and they tell you they're 16 or 17, doesn't mean that's true."

Now, members of Blough's department advise parents to aggressively monitor their childrens' cell phones.

Brimfield has become part of a national trend.

About one in five teens nationwide have engaged in "sexting" by sending sexually suggestive text messages or e-mails with nude or nearly nude photos, according to a survey released last week by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And more than one-third of the 655 teens surveyed said they know of a friend who has sent or received "sext" messages with one in 10 senders reporting they have sent these messages to people they don't even know.

One of the men arrested for soliciting a Brimfield teen was very explicit in his phone texts, Blough said.

"He was sending some really inappropriate stuff to her, being really descript about what he wanted to do to her sexually," Blough said.

The proliferation of digital media could be making teens more vulnerable to sex-related crimes, as the NCMEC survey found 90 percent of teens have an e-mail address, 73 percent have a cell phone and 72 percent have a social networking profile.

The two solicitations within weeks of each other in Brimfield have officials there on alert.

David Brobeck, superintendent of Field Local Schools, said school administrators are aware "sexting" can occur among students, and the district will take action if a case is confirmed.

"Particularly if they're sending images, which is illegal," Brobeck said. "We have a society that's more aware now than it used to be, but we've always had people who will try to prey on kids. So our best bet is to try and make sure our kids know how to protect themselves, how to run (and) how to get help."

This story is the first in a two-part series on sex offenders.