Almost 150 New Jersey Sex Offenders Discovered on MySpace

Many tout MySpace.com as being the place to meet, greet, and network. But according to New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, the popular web site is a favorite stomping ground to more than 100 state convicted sex offenders.

The Investigation

According to Newsday.com the MySpace organization agreed to participate in an investigation regarding sex offenders. The site provided the authorities with internet and email addresses of the convicted offenders, at the request of attorneys general in eight U.S. states. But Milgram says that the information provided by MySpace is "only a first step."

Per Reuters.com Milgram also states:

"We have proof in hand to confirm the worst fears of New Jersey's concerned parents and educators: that sex offenders are active on Web sites used by children..."

Per the MySpace records, 141 sex offenders were discovered in New Jersey alone. These convicted felons had logged onto the popular web site more than 30,000 times during the time in which they were registered with MySpace. The site's records also reveal that the offenders logged on the site hundreds of times.

Out of the 141, 43 of them were determined to be New Jersey parolees, with at least thirty more on probation. This information, per Newsday.com, has been released to parole and probation officers so that they can establish whether or not any violations have occurred. In the state of New Jersey, sex offenders who violate parole may face up to 5 years in jail and a maximum fine of $15,000.

Internet Sex Crimes Getting Worse...?

According to Reuters.com, police officials in New Jersey are attempting to find out whether any children have been solicited for sex by the offenders they are able to identify on MySpace. But there is mounting evidence that the problem may be getting out of hand; the New Jersey offenders identified make up just a small percentage of the total number of sex offenders located on the site. Fox Interactive Media, the company which owns MySpace has already deleted approximately 7,000 profiles belonging to sex offenders.

Reuters also reports that at least one in seven children between the ages of 10 and 17 will be contacted on line by internet predators. Milgram suggests that computers are not kept privately in children's bedrooms, but rather in common areas of the house, where parents can monitor the activity. On NorthJersey.com's website Milgram also mentions that extreme caution should always be taken when using social networking sites; she claims that personal information should never be offered on line to anyone.