This is a good example of the use of the Internet to solicit sex from a teenager. It is becoming more common to find cases of adults that work closely with children (teachers, clergy, scout leaders, etc.) perpetrating crimes against children on the Internet. You can read the entire story by following the link. Here is an excerpt:
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) --A teacher at Bronxville High School made contact with a 15-year-old girl on the Internet, then followed it up with "raw sexual communications" and arranged to meet and have sex, District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday.
But the girl had reported that first contact to her parents, Pirro said, and the parents went to the North Castle police. Pirro's office was contacted and investigators assumed the girl's identity online.
So when the teacher, 45-year-old Paul Wicht of Stamford, Conn., arrived for the alleged rendezvous Thursday night, he was arrested, the district attorney said.
Pirro said parents need constant reminding that "There are individuals out there from all walks of life who are looking to have sex with young children."
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Article comments
1 - Purple Tigress
I hope this article will make fathers and mothers take pause and think about preventive sex education which should include an anti-predator chapter or two.
Some of us survive by sheer luck.
What kind of a 40-something man wants a girl 20 to 30 years younger than him?
2 - bhw
Most 40-something men would love a girl 20 years younger....
3 - Mac Diva
I'm not sure the Internet is causing more sexual predation. I think is just another mechanism. For example, the educator who would have hit on his teacher's pet now goes online and trolls for teens instead.
A story that had me fascinated for a week and will have deep repercussions in the Pacific Northwest is the revelation that a former mayor of Portland, governor of Oregon and member of the Carter administration sexually exploited a 14-year-old girl for three years. Apparently, plenty of people knew, but he was a powerful man. I blogged it here. If you have time, read the linked article in Willamette Week. People are always throwing around the word 'hubris.' Well, this really is a tale of hubris.
There is also quite a controversy in journalism circles about this because the Oregonian played footsie with Neil Goldschmidt and his fixer. The journalism reviews can tell you more.
4 - TDavid
Here, let me close that bold tag :)
5 - Eric Olsen
closed
6 - Purple Tigress
Oh, I don't think the correct word is love. I think immature men of 40-odd years would enjoy taking advantage of a girl 20 to 30 years younger than them. As I recall, there were a few men looking for junior high school girlfriends when I was that age. Even then, I knew they were losers--emotionally stunted men looking for someone to manipulate.
I read about the Oregon politico and his 14-year-old victim. The word I think that should be used is rape. He raped a young girl, manipulated her and traumatized her.
Again, what kind of a man would choose a girl so young? Not a good man. Not an honest man. Not a mature man. Not a man any woman can trust. Not a man that any father can trust.
7 - bhw
PT, I commented on 40-something men with women 20 years younger. Teenagers and adolescents don't fit in that category.
8 - Rodney Welch
PurpleTigress --
Let me see if I understand you correctly. Do you find it morally wrong for any man over 40 to have a romantic relationship with someone between the ages of, say, 18-25?
9 - Robert T DeMarco
RE: I'm not sure the Internet is causing more sexual predation.
In fact, the Internet is causing an explosion in Pedophilia. This new kind of criminal "comes out" because of the anonymous nature of the Internet. This new "perp" is generally a 25-45 years old male with no previous criminal record. Jimmy Doyle explained this phenomena to me by describing this type of behavior as being on the "edge". More or less he meant, this type person would not approach a kid in a park. But, because of the Internet they can act out anonymously. Once it goes over the "edge" the perpetrator engages in behavior they might not have in the "real world." The behavior is the solicitation of sex from a minor when the "perp" knows or thinks the person on the other end of the Internet interaction is in fact a minor.
I'll be writing original content on this matter over the next month. I'll share it here. I'll end by saying, the number one target for this kind of behavior is a 14 year old girl.
Bob
10 - Mac Diva
I look forward to reading what you write, Bob. For some reason, a disproportionate share of successful Internet porn stings seem to occur out here in the Pacific Northwest. I suspect you already know about the one involving the foster father a couple months ago.
Purple. Exactly, in regard to the girl being raped. Part of the scandal at the O is that Goldschmidt manipulated them into describing child molestation as an 'affair.' They were so starstruck they played right into the crafty old pol's hands.
11 - Robert T DeMarco
Re: I hope this article will make fathers and mothers take pause and think about preventive sex education which should include an anti-predator chapter or two.
Purple (can I use your first name?), you make a good point. But one thing that really needs to get done is to get some education for the parents. Most parents know how to deal with problems in the real world. Or let’s say they do by the time the second kid rolls around. But when it comes to dealing with behavior on the Internet, most parents are not will equipped.
One issue I intend to discuss soon is, Should Parents Monitor the Behavior on the Internet? This is certain to be controversial. Of course back in the 1970s parents were vilified for sending their kids to day care.
Inside the monitoring issue is another issue. If parents decide to monitor, should they tell the children? Right now about 20 percent that monitor tell their children. And here is where it gets interesting. Parents are not spying on the kids, they are simply "afraid" to tell the kids. Might sound crazy, but I have talked to over 120 parents than monitor, and that is what I get. I have also talked to more than 35 cops that educate parents and they get the same result.
Thanks for reading.
Bob
12 - Robert T DeMarco
RE: For some reason, a disproportionate share of successful Internet porn stings seem to occur out here in the Pacific Northwest.
Here are a few statistics from my blog.
--In 2003 alone, more than 200,000 reports of Internet-related child pornography were made to the domestic center's CyberTipline (http://www.cybertipline.org/).
--More than 2,000 child predators and sex offenders have been brought to justice in the eight months since the launch of a new law enforcement program known as Operation Predator.
--A three-year investigation into an alleged child pornography ring has netted nearly 150 arrests nationwide, more than half of which occurred in North Texas.
--The "Operation Site-Key" investigation began in February 2002 with the execution of a federal search warrant on the website Sitekey.com. As a result, over 23,000 individuals were found to be using their credit cards to subscribe to child pornography web sites, and more than 700 arrests have been made to date.
Bob
13 - Jim Lenihan
For those of you who MISTAKENLY BELIEVE that this is an internet predator case--
you are wrong--this is a classic Lolita/Nabokov situation---With the blame unequally distributed, if truth be known.
For those of you who struggle with the Russian, perhaps the more melifluous words of Sting in "dont stand so close to me" ring true.
Also, before we go swiflty down that slippery slope---remember this---if words are not illegal in person, or opn a billboard, or on a screen at Yankee stadium...why then are they illegal here- AND if you deem this to be ann acceptable form of censorship--what about actually burning Nabokov--
Match anyone?