MySpace perpetrator questioned
When someone gets to close physically, it’s considered an invasion of your personal “space.” When meeting someone in person that you’ve met on the internet in a chat room and all goes wrong, the name says it all -- it’s an invasion of “MySpace.”
MySpace.com is a website for people to meet and keep in touch with friends and to share pictures or video as well. However, this story does not contain the happy ending of boy meets girl. Allegedly, the boy, 17, and the girl, 14, met in MySpace.com and, from there, it appears that any thought of internet security was lost and forgotten. Now, the police are involved in a potential rape case of a juvenile girl by the boy she met online. The day came to a crashing halt when a young lady came striding up asking where the police department was located or someone that could help her sister.
To begin, it was after normal working hours and she was in the Vermilion Parish’s sheriff’s parking lot instead of the city police, under who’s jurisdiction the action will fall.
“I just picked up my sister in front of Wal-Mart and she said she’s been raped numerous times since she was picked up last night and on throughout today,” said older sister Jaclyn. “My mom’s in the car with her right now, but she just got out of the hospital from having a massive heart attack and we don’t know where to go.”
Her sister is only 14 and left home Tuesday, June 3 in Lafayette to allegedly spend the night with a friend, according to Jaclyn. “We called the police in Lafayette where we live but they said she hadn’t been gone long enough to fill out a missing person’s report. And they didn’t want to classify it as a runaway either.
“She has a MySpace account and I’ve been worried about her for a while now. The Lafayette Police called during the day and said she was on her way home, but then she never showed up. Finally, we got a call from her saying the men who had her found out the police were involved and just dropped her off at the Abbeville Wal-Mart.”
Abbeville Police Chief Rick Coleman said that 17 year old Kyle Campbell is being submitted to the Grand Jury for charges of rape or carnal knowledge of a juvenile.
His father is also being submitted to the Grand Jury for principal knowledge of the incident.
“We (the police) think he (father) should be charged and if it comes back with Campbell being charged, then we also believe the father should be indicted as well,” said Coleman. “Campbell came in last Thursday to be interviewed with his father, and we have a difference in opinions on statements given between the Campbells and the juvenile girl. If the situation proves to be false, then the minor girl could be charged with making a false police report.”
Coleman advises parents of children to not let them have access to the internet without supervising what they are doing.
“The whole world is available at your fingertips,” said Coleman. “The problem is what you go to view may or may not be good for you - especially children. There are Parental Controls available for most of the websites you want to keep children from, but internet providers area also very good about providing alternative ways of getting to them.”
Parents also have numerous programs available to safeguard children on the internet from www.download.com. They can also install a key logger program to find out exactly where children have been surfing or simply what has been typed on the computer in messages the children are sending out.
On their web site, MySpace describes themselves as the following: “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends. Create a community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends! See who knows who, or how you are connected. Find out if you really are six people away from Kevin Bacon. MySpace is for everyone.”
Knowing that the site is open to anyone for public viewing, the company does have a site for security information and to answer questions about privacy. Their website says “MySpace is steadfast in our commitment to keeping people safe online through unique safety features and technology, partnerships with safety organizations and law enforcement, and our support of new laws that will nurture the growth of online safety tools, education and research. Your profile and MySpace forums are public spaces. Don’t forget that your profile and MySpace forums are public spaces. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the world to know (e.g., your phone number, address, IM screen names, or specific whereabouts).