McMaster wants to know names of sex offenders using MySpace
By Nita Birmingham
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster is demanding information on the state's registered sex offenders who are surfing MySpace.com, the social networking Web site that has become a pop-culture phenomenon.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 9,944 registered sex offenders in South Carolina, the State Law Enforcement Division said. Law enforcement can't prevent anyone from joining MySpace, but the information could be a valuable investigative tool, said Mark Plowden, spokesman for the attorney general's office.
"We'll incorporate it into our efforts against Internet predators in the state," Plowden said.
McMaster made the demand in a letter to MySpace dated Monday. Attorneys general in several other states, including North Carolina, recently have taken similar action. MySpace initially refused to disclose the information, citing privacy laws.
North Carolina last month was notified that about 245 of its approximately 10,000 registered sex offenders were found on MySpace.com, said Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the North Carolina attorney general's office.
Information turned over to North Carolina authorities included names and Internet providers and e-mail addresses. It did not include information on suspected sex offenders who have not addresses. It did not include information on suspected sex offenders who have not been convicted, unregistered offenders or those who might be using aliases on the site, Talley said.
South Carolina also is asking for the names of registered sex offenders who were deleted as users of MySpace. A spokesman said the site deleted the profiles of about 7,000 registered sex offenders.
That's a scary number that reinforces what McMaster has been trying to tell people for the past several years, Plowden said.
"These online communities are a petri dish for sex offenders trying to lure children for sexual contact," he said. "It's a dangerous place to post personal information."
Reach Nita Birmingham at 745-5858 or nbirmingham@postandcourier.com.
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