Her454
02-08-2005, 11:06 AM
I posted the link awhile back on this database and here is an article in todays paper...this is disgusting.
Sex-crime site a database, not a date base
By Dan Reed
Mercury News
Important notice to all the state's registered sex offenders: The now publicly available Megan's Law Web site is not an online dating service.
Glen Westberg, 35, of Cupertino, a convicted child molester, recently found that out. He's expected to be charged today with a misdemeanor for trying to set up trysts with other convicted sex offenders he found by searching the database, available on the Internet since December.
Westberg allegedly even referred his potential dates -- about four or five other men -- to his own picture and profile on the site, for him a Match.com for sex offenders.
Here's how the police caught on in a case that appears to be a first of its kind in the state.
Westberg logged on to the site from a public library, he told police.
The Web site, meant to allow the public to learn of registered sex offenders living near them, lists more than 63,000 criminals, many with photos.
Westberg sent a letter suggesting a meeting to one man who was on probation and uneasy about the offer. He showed it to his probation officer, who told him to turn it over to the San Mateo County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force.
Bill Ahern, commander of the task force, called Westberg, implying he was the man who received the letter.
Then they set up a date to meet last Thursday at a Starbucks in Redwood City. Ahern brought along an officer who resembled the letter-receiver.
``He didn't hit on the guy,'' Ahern said, ``so we approached him.''
Soon Westberg -- a warehouse worker who was convicted of child molestation in 1992 and 1998 -- was at the sheriff's station, admitting what he had done, Ahern said.
He had found his prospective partners by searching for their convictions and finding men who enjoyed oral copulation. Then off went the letters. Westberg told police he'd received no responses.
In a search of his apartment, officers confiscated two computers, which will be examined for content.
It's against the law for convicted sex registrants to contact others from the Web site, Ahern said, because the government doesn't want them conspiring to abuse others.
If convicted, Westberg faces up to six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both.
Sex-crime site a database, not a date base
By Dan Reed
Mercury News
Important notice to all the state's registered sex offenders: The now publicly available Megan's Law Web site is not an online dating service.
Glen Westberg, 35, of Cupertino, a convicted child molester, recently found that out. He's expected to be charged today with a misdemeanor for trying to set up trysts with other convicted sex offenders he found by searching the database, available on the Internet since December.
Westberg allegedly even referred his potential dates -- about four or five other men -- to his own picture and profile on the site, for him a Match.com for sex offenders.
Here's how the police caught on in a case that appears to be a first of its kind in the state.
Westberg logged on to the site from a public library, he told police.
The Web site, meant to allow the public to learn of registered sex offenders living near them, lists more than 63,000 criminals, many with photos.
Westberg sent a letter suggesting a meeting to one man who was on probation and uneasy about the offer. He showed it to his probation officer, who told him to turn it over to the San Mateo County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force.
Bill Ahern, commander of the task force, called Westberg, implying he was the man who received the letter.
Then they set up a date to meet last Thursday at a Starbucks in Redwood City. Ahern brought along an officer who resembled the letter-receiver.
``He didn't hit on the guy,'' Ahern said, ``so we approached him.''
Soon Westberg -- a warehouse worker who was convicted of child molestation in 1992 and 1998 -- was at the sheriff's station, admitting what he had done, Ahern said.
He had found his prospective partners by searching for their convictions and finding men who enjoyed oral copulation. Then off went the letters. Westberg told police he'd received no responses.
In a search of his apartment, officers confiscated two computers, which will be examined for content.
It's against the law for convicted sex registrants to contact others from the Web site, Ahern said, because the government doesn't want them conspiring to abuse others.
If convicted, Westberg faces up to six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both.