Posted on 12/18/2005 7:56:41 PM PST by SmoothTalker
"The 13-year-old boy sat in his California home, eyes fixed on a computer screen. He had never run with the popular crowd and long ago had turned to the Internet for the friends he craved. But on this day, Justin Berry's fascination with cyberspace would change his life."
"Now, on an afternoon in 2000, one member of his audience sent a proposal: he would pay Justin $50 to sit bare-chested in front of his Webcam for three minutes. The man explained that Justin could receive the money instantly and helped him open an account on PayPal.com, an online payment system."
"Gradually the requests became bolder, the cash offers larger:"
"So began the secret life of a teenager who was lured into selling images of his body on the Internet over the course of five years. From the seduction that began that day, this soccer-playing honor roll student was drawn into performing in front of the Webcam - undressing, showering, masturbating and even having sex - for an audience of more than 1,500 people who paid him, over the years, hundreds of thousands of dollars."
No one Justin's age ever contacted him from that listing. But, within minutes, he heard from his first online predator. That man was soon followed by another, then another."
The Times inquiry has already resulted in a large-scale criminal investigation. In June, The Times located Justin Berry, then 18. In interviews, Justin revealed the existence of a group of more than 1,500 men who paid for his online images."
"As soon as Justin hooked the camera to his bedroom computer and loaded the software, his picture was automatically posted on spotlife.com, an Internet directory of Webcam users, along with his contact information. Then he waited to hear from other teenagers.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
MSNBC (IIRC) had a show on last night, Perverted Justice,
in which they lured some pedophiles into a house. Someone pretended to be a 13 or 14 yr old girl or boy online, and the pedophile came eagerly to the house, expecting to 'comfort
a lonely kid'. One was a soldier. One, a rabbi. (i.e., some could well be "respected members of society" and yet...) And one guy got "caught" by them only to DO IT AGAIN THE NEXT DAY!
He hadn't learned...
Don't enforce the law - ban the internet! For the children's sake!
...the show was Dateline actually but there is a group
called Perverted Justice.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9878187
>>"We even had a man strip naked in our garage after our decoy asked him to. That same 43-year-old showed up with a 12-pack of beer, thinking he was meeting a 14-year-old boy. He got his chance to tell his story to police last week when he was taken in for questioning. Detectives confiscated computers and other items from his home. He has not been charged with a crime."
"Don't enforce the law - ban the internet! For the children's sake!
"
The lesson I take from this is don't give your young teen internet in their room. Parents need to pay a lot more attention to where their kids are. Their are some sickies out there.
What parent would get a webcam for their child? That is fantastically stupid!
First question. How did he collect the money?
Had to set up paypal or else have checks sent to his home?
I tend to agree. Anyone who has a hotmail account should have an inkling that they typically aren't used for anything edifying.
Hmmm. Every time the NYT publishes a sensational story like this, I always wonder if some Jayson Blair type made it up in order to garner a Pulitzer.
"What parent would get a webcam for their child? That is fantastically stupid!
"
It was a freebie from earthlink.
"First question. How did he collect the money?
"
Article says that the first perv to approach him about taking off his shirt for $50 taught him how to open a paypal account
Evil...pure evil.
Hung. Not shot.
"It was a freebie from earthlink."
Even so, the parent should not have allowed the kid to have the damn thing. Guess it's not all fairies,elves and unicorns over at Earthlink after all. Good grief!
"
Even so, the parent should not have allowed the kid to have the damn thing. Guess it's not all fairies,elves and unicorns over at Earthlink after all. Good grief!"
I agree 100%. The parents are to blame for a lot of this.
I don't know why the MSM has so much trouble with grown men praying on young boys - after all their buddies at the American Psychiatric Association 2 years ago was considering removing pedophilia from their list of mental disorders.
Seems to me that the New York Times should check with their allies before publishing stories that will demean "normal" men.
"Seems to me that the New York Times should check with their allies before publishing stories that will demean "normal" men.
"
I just question the motives of the reporter. The perfect excuse for a perv would be doing a story on pervs.
When junior is 35-40 I might let him have a little more freedom.
If East Germany owned a broadband Internet service I imagine it would work a lot like earthlink. I have the satellite Internet service they offer. At any time there is a 50/50 chance that the Internet will actually be working.
My theory: The unicorn is in charge of tech support for my account.
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