DADvocate

Today news hit the airways that 29000 registered sex offenders had profiles on MySpace.

MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking Web site — more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago, officials in two states Tuesday.

Sex offenders could also be members of MySpace under false identities making them impossible to identify.

Law enforcement officials in two states have announced that the social-networking site MySpace has identified 29,000 registered sex offenders using its service. That's more than four times the number identified by MySpace earlier this year, when it yielded to pressure from a group of state attorneys general to turn over the account information of convicted offenders.

"The exploding epidemic of sex offender profiles on MySpace -- 29,000 and counting -- screams for action," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement. "Our information demands reveal shocking new skyrocketing numbers of convicted sex offender profiles on MySpace. Each of these 29,000 separate profiles reflects a potential predator willing and able to exploit a child."

Still More Offenders?

The identification of the 29,000 registered sex offenders -- enough to fill a small city -- was aided by the fact that the individuals in question used their real names to sign up for their MySpace accounts. No one has offered any estimate as to how many registered sex offenders might have accounts under false identities.

Not comforting information for parents.

Unfortunately, parents, especially mothers, are at risk also. This report focuses on how sex offenders use dating sites to meet victims. Earlier, I had read a comment in a now lost blog from a woman who said she had nearly been raped by a man she met via a popular dating site.

On the heels of all this comes a study that says the risks of MySpace for kids is exaggerated.

Fears that teenagers using the social networking website MySpace are exposing themselves to sexual predators by disclosing too many personal details are probably overblown, researchers say.

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Of the 2,423 profiles created by individuals aged under 18, 948 were set to "private," meaning that they could only be viewed by friends.

Of the remaining 1,475, one person in 12 revealed their full name, 57 percent included a picture, 27.8 percent listed their school, 81 percent identified their city and 0.3 percent provided their phone number.

Four percent included an instant messaging name, and one percent an email address.

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MySpace requires users to be at least 14 years of age, and the profiles of those representing themselves as 14 or 15 are automatically set to "private" view only.

Of course, children can lie about their age as easily as sex offenders can fake their identity.

If your child is that one in out of however many who is harmed in some way, the numbers don't matter. Be aware of the dangers, teach you children of the dangers and make sure you know what they're doing on the computer. And, perhaps more importantly, what they're doing when they aren't on the computer.