Online predators may be a relatively new form of criminal, but New York is taking no chances. The state disabled over 3,500 registered sex offenders' Facebook and MySpace accounts. Out of the 8,000 registered sex offenders that have given their e-mail addresses to the state about half of them had a MySpace or Facebook account.
This latest crackdown reflects New York's Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP). Under the e-STOP act, sex offenders have to reveal not only their physical mailing address, but also their e-mail addresses. What's more, the e-STOP act, which was signed into law by New York Gov. David Paterson last year, prevents any sex offender accused of sexually abusing a minor from being able to access social networking sites.
For more:
- Wall Street Journal has this article
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