Raven
Saturday, January 12th, 2008, 09:44 PM
Sean Carroll (Livonia, N.Y.) - Jeremy Socola was a softball coach for the Livonia School District, charged with teaching students to love the game.
This week, he became a former coach, charged with committing sex crimes.
Socola allegedly sent sexually charged photos to 2 female students, arriving in the form of text messages and Instant Messages on a cell phone & computer.
"We have an ultimate responsibility as community leaders to protect our children," said Livingston County Sheriff John York. "If we're not protecting them, who's going to?"
Livingston County deputies also busted Timothy Meehan in September. Like Socola, Meehan was accused of making sexual advances in minors through e-mail and text messages.
In both cases, the accused were familiar with the same websites and technology their students used. Some call this a disturbing trend.
"And the lines (are) blurring," said Pam Weaver, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "They still are someone in authority. They still are adults. And they need to be careful about the kinds of things they're putting on MySpace or Facebook."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that in just the last couple of years, they have seen a shocking increase in the number of missing children's cases that have been linked to online communication.
"Two years ago, about 10% of the cases of missing children involved the Internet," said Weaver. "In 2007, 65% of the missing kids' cases involved the Internet."
These numbers drew concern from State Senator Joe Robach (R-Greece). He and fellow lawmakers are pushing to make these crimes felonies, and stiffen the penalties.
"The goal here is not only make that a felony, but get these people off the street," said Senator Robach. "(That's) before they make the physical contact, or do anything that's going to hurt or scar these children for life."
That legislation passed the State Senate last month, but still needs approval from the Assembly.
District Attorney Mike Green said he hasn't reviewed this legislation yet, but he knows from his experience, the state laws aren't as tough.
Often his office works with the U.S. Attorney's office, because Internet crimes carry stiffer penalties at the federal level.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that while these laws should help, parents are still the ones who can do the most to stop these crimes.
Source (http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8b383c01-53fc-409c-9c7d-a556d5faa952)
This week, he became a former coach, charged with committing sex crimes.
Socola allegedly sent sexually charged photos to 2 female students, arriving in the form of text messages and Instant Messages on a cell phone & computer.
"We have an ultimate responsibility as community leaders to protect our children," said Livingston County Sheriff John York. "If we're not protecting them, who's going to?"
Livingston County deputies also busted Timothy Meehan in September. Like Socola, Meehan was accused of making sexual advances in minors through e-mail and text messages.
In both cases, the accused were familiar with the same websites and technology their students used. Some call this a disturbing trend.
"And the lines (are) blurring," said Pam Weaver, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "They still are someone in authority. They still are adults. And they need to be careful about the kinds of things they're putting on MySpace or Facebook."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that in just the last couple of years, they have seen a shocking increase in the number of missing children's cases that have been linked to online communication.
"Two years ago, about 10% of the cases of missing children involved the Internet," said Weaver. "In 2007, 65% of the missing kids' cases involved the Internet."
These numbers drew concern from State Senator Joe Robach (R-Greece). He and fellow lawmakers are pushing to make these crimes felonies, and stiffen the penalties.
"The goal here is not only make that a felony, but get these people off the street," said Senator Robach. "(That's) before they make the physical contact, or do anything that's going to hurt or scar these children for life."
That legislation passed the State Senate last month, but still needs approval from the Assembly.
District Attorney Mike Green said he hasn't reviewed this legislation yet, but he knows from his experience, the state laws aren't as tough.
Often his office works with the U.S. Attorney's office, because Internet crimes carry stiffer penalties at the federal level.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that while these laws should help, parents are still the ones who can do the most to stop these crimes.
Source (http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8b383c01-53fc-409c-9c7d-a556d5faa952)