Illinois Busts Sex Offender for Having Internet Access and a MySpace Account

Now that MySpace has handed over the names of 90,000 registered sex offenders on its site to every state attorney general, an Illinois sex offender faces charges after he failed to tell the authorities that he had the Internet at home and had a MySpace account. From the News-Democrat:

A Bethalto sex offender faces a felony after police said he failed to tell police he had the Internet in his home and maintained a home page on a social networking site.

Madison County sheriff's deputies arrested Gregory J. Kruckeberg Jr., 27, of 5605 Illinois 140 in Bethalto, at 9 p.m. on Feb. 5 after finding an Internet account at his home address and a MySpace networking account, said Capt. Brad Wells.

A new law was enacted on Jan. 1, 2008, that required sex offenders to make known to law enforcement any Internet connections or any Web sites they use or maintain.

From May 2007 to August 2008, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office identified 3,221 profiles of registered sex offenders who created MySpace accounts, including 95 sex offenders in Madison and St. Clair Counties.

"This is the first time I have gotten a call with regards to an offender failing to report their MySpace," Madigan's Deputy Chief of Staff Cara Smith said. "But with this cyberworld kid's live in, sometimes parents aren't aware of what's going on in there. This sounds like a case of some good proactive police work."

Kruckeberg was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The victim was 16 years old. As part of his conviction, Kruckeberg is required to register every year.

He last registered in April 2008, but Wells said he failed to report the Internet connection and MySpace when he registered.

Illinois' requirement that sex offenders register their online information (including blogs) is part of a growing trend amongst states. The statute in question is 730 ILCS 150/3(a). Specifically, it reads:

A sex offender ... or sexual predator shall ... register in person and provide accurate information as required by the Department of State Police. Such information shall include a current photograph, current address, current place of employment, the employer's telephone number, school attended, all e‑mail addresses, instant messaging identities, chat room identities, and other Internet communications identities that the sex offender uses or plans to use, all Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) registered or used by the sex offender, all blogs and other Internet sites maintained by the sex offender or to which the sex offender has uploaded any content or posted any messages or information ...

Comments

[MarkM]

Wow, that is just plain funny. If i were a sex offender i'd have to list this website, cnn.com google.com (since i use the search engine to acquire information), foxnews.com (since i post comments). Any blog that i run across and countless other websites including gaming and the ones i see only once. That law is like telling people they have to inform the government of every store you ever visit or every address you drive by.