Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann: Allied With New York's Cuomo In Facebook Probe

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann has confirmed his office is investigating Facebook, the social networking Website that is popular with students. The Daily Bellwether also has obtained the full-text of a letter from the New York attorney general's office that contends the site is used by sexual predators to find child victims, or to recruit Facebook users for porno films. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's six-page letter (pdf) to Facebook executives was timed to coincide with Dann's disclosure in Ohio. Cuomo said undercover investigators had discovered inappropriate content and hardcore pornography.

From Cuomo's letter:

"Perhaps, most alarmingly, Facebook ignored several -- and repeated -- complaints from our undercover investigators concerning persons who made inappropriate advances to underage users. The OAG made these complaints to Facebook both as underage users as well as parents of underage users.

"For instance, on August 30, an OAG investigator created a profile for a fourteen-year-old female high school student from New York. Approximately a week later, she received a Facebook message from a 24 year old man, asking 'do you have any nude pics.' The investigator lodged a complaint with Facebook as the student's mother from a Hotmail account complaining that her daughter was being solicited by older men. The next day, Facebook sent a response saying that Facebook 'will review the reported material and remove anything that violate our Terms of Use.' To date, however, Facebook has taken no further action, and the 24-year-old's profile is still available on the Facebook site."

Ohio Pervert Shows Naked Baby On Webcam While He Masturbates

DAYTON (TDB) -- Federal prosecutor Greg Lockhart says an Ohio man who stripped an infant, held it up before a camera and then masturbated "while broadcasting it over the 'webcam' to other unknown indviduals watching over their computers" is headed to the slammer for 10 years. The 52-year-old sexual offender used the screen name CuriousDayton and apparently prowled the 'net trying to get people to show him pictures of children.

That seems horrifying, right? But it gets worse. The baby's parents left it in child care where a predator gained access.

Lockhart is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. His jurisdiction includes the cities of Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. The perpetrator lived in the Dayton suburb of Kettering and was sentenced March 12.

The masturbation incident took place in March 2004. The infant who appeared in the Webcam broadcast was staying with a relative of the offender who ran a family day care operation. Lockhart said the criminal is headed to a federal prison that provides treatment for sexual offenders.

''Who is more vulnerable of a victim than an infant. We must continued every effort toward providing a safe childhood for every child from infancy through adolescence."

The Justice Department press release is HERE, and it says federal agents arrested the perp at his home last May. The Internet is a great advance in communications, and a great tool. But it has a dark side. The episode in Dayton illustrates just how much the 'net can be abused.