Throughout the career of an experienced DC criminal lawyer, it is common to represent clients who have been accused of sexual crimes. Conviction of these crimes will place that person on a national registry of sex offenders. Being on that list can have life changing consequences, as seen in a recent crackdown on internet sex crimes.
Several thousand metropolitan sex offenders have been from two major social media sites: Facebook and MySpace. The Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP), passed in 2008, provided for the massive sweeping of all sex offenders registered on social media sites. Under the new law, all convicted sex offenders must register all of their personal information with the state including: online profiles, and home, web, and email addresses. Of the thousands of registered sex offenders, just over a quarter have complied with the e-STOP legislation.
Over 3,500 sex offenders have been kicked out of these social media sites as a wake-up call to for everyone, including parents, young adults, law enforcement agencies, as well as the sites themselves. Additionally, the names of those taken from the sites were reported to the state Division of Parole. This was done to make sure that none of the people with sex offense charges have violated their early release provisions while using the social networking sites. The fact that so many sex offenders were booted from Facebook and MySpace displays a clear message that there is a patrol in the cyber world. Popular social media sites make create an easier environment for sex offenders to connect with people.
Many of those kicked out of Facebook and MySpace sites committed recent sex offenses. One rejected member was convicted of sexually assaulting a fourteen year-old boy, while another was convicted of raping a two year-old girl. State officials felt that this information was important to be public knowledge, and has made it available to the social media sites that want it.
This post is provided by Price Benowitz, LLP, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Sex Crimes Lawyer and Maryland Sex Crimes Lawyer web pages.
