Dr. Frank Kardasz (Ed.D)

Dr. Kardasz:

Geoff Cunningham wrote an interesting article (below) about cybervigilantes.  

For further information about cybervigilantes see http://www.kardasz.org/Cybervigilantes.html

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Online watchdog methods questioned

By Geoff Cunningham Jr., Nov 29, 2006

Online watchdog methods questioned

The lawyer defending a Campton man nabbed by police in a recent Internet predator sting is challenging the methodology used by an online watchdog group.

Attorney Sandra F. Bloomenthal is raising questions about the Belmont Police Department's use of the group known as "Perverted Justice" in the arrest of Morgan Stickney, calling the online watchdog organization an "insidious" vigilante cult that is turning good intentions into blood sport.

Bloomenthal is considering civil action against police and the NBC television group that she said helps fund their actions through profits from the popular television show, To Catch a Predator.

"It's entrapment and a civil rights violation ... the real predators are the people who were enticing my client and we will be defending this vigorously. It's highly unprofessional and for a police department to become involved is ridiculous," said Bloomenthal.

Meanwhile, local police and the county attorney who prosecutes such cases are defending the organization which they say is approached by predators and simply works with police to see that they are brought to justice.

Stickney, 34, of Cox Road in Campton is facing two charges of prohibited use of a computer service for allegedly trying to arrange a meeting with an online user whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Belmont authorities had been monitoring Stickney's computer activity with the help of a volunteer from Perverted Justice — an organization that monitors potential online sexual predators by going into Internet chat rooms.

Authorities allege that Stickney, who has not been indicted by a grand jury, had been having an inappropriate online relationship with a person he thought was an underage female since July. Authorities allege that he exposed himself to a streaming video which police say they are holding as evidence of the misconduct.

The man is also alleged to have arranged a meeting with the girl at an undisclosed location in Belmont on Nov. 4, but a planned sting failed when Stickney did not show up for the meeting.

Police followed up by traveling to his home in Campton and arresting him for the previous conduct. They also executed a search warrant that allowed them to take his computer.

Bloomenthal is claiming that her client is "mentally challenged" and was set up by a group that has been cited as being unprofessional and whose tactics infringe on a person's civil rights.

"A number of organizations, including the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] have found that their message and techniques are repugnant, to say the least," said Bloomenthal.

Stickney's counsel is claiming that he has no predisposition for being an online predator but was coaxed into the relationship.

"They take somebody like my client and bombard them online and try to set up a sting ... they put intense pressure on them," said Bloomenthal.

The lawyer said her preliminary investigation into the Perverted Justice group has revealed tactics that she feels violate an individual's constitutional right to privacy.

"This is nothing more than a vigilante group ... it's the KKK of the Internet," said Bloomenthal.

Bloomenthal said the issue with her client is further complicated by the fact that he is mentally challenged and "took several years to finish high school" because of various learning disabilities.

She declined to detail the exact nature of the alleged disability. She said he still lives with his father because he is unfit to live alone and works in a "limited position" because of his mental problems.

When asked if her client is a sexual predator, she replied: "no ... not at all".

When asked how a jury might view his disability in light of his ability to use a computer and other related technology, she indicated that most special education programs now focus on computer skills as an easier way of teaching people and allowing them to communicate.

"They set him up and manipulated him ... I don't think he quite understands all of this. My client also declined to go to the location for their sting," added Bloomenthal.

However, Acting county Attorney Wayne Coull — a recognized expert in Internet sex crimes — said the state statute governing such offenses does not require a potential offender to actually meet with a believed underage person to be guilty of a felony crime of soliciting sex online.

"It makes for better evidence, but it's not a requirement," said Coull of a perpetrator showing up to a sting.

The law (RSA 649-B:4) says a person may be charged with such a felony if the person knowingly utilizes a computer online service "to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, or attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, a child or another person believed by the person to be a child, to commit" a sexual act.

Coull said he and other prosecutors had initial concerns about groups like Perverted Justice, but noted that they focused on evidentiary procedure and not the group itself.

"Prosecutors initially had concerns because of the manner in which they were saving critical data ... the chats were not being recorded in a way that could be used in court. They have since made adjustments to how they are doing business so it can be [used] in the court," said Coull.

Coull disagreed with Bloomenthal's assertion that Perverted Justice is coaxing innocent people into illegal activities.

"It's certainly not entrapment. They don't lure or entice anyone to do anything ... they simply place themselves on the Internet and are being solicited. They make it clear they are underage and there is no ambiguity as to who is doing the sexual soliciting," said Coull.

Coull said that Perverted Justice and other groups encounter a "fair" number of people who stop chatting with them in a sexual manner once the individual is told the person is underage.

The county attorney said such volunteer groups are a valuable help to authorities as they battle an Internet problem that is only growing.

"I don't encourage groups to go out and investigate burglaries, but in this area, given law enforcement's lack of resources in terms of spending time on the computer, I think its appropriate and can be helpful," said Coull.

Coull hesitated to say that he would encourage local law enforcement groups to work with Perverted Justice, noting that such instances must be handled on a case-by-case basis, especially in light of the necessary sting operations.

"We don't want to keep bringing in perpetrators or deluge a small town with a large amount of sex offenders," said Coull.

Bloomenthal's biggest challenge could be convincing a potential jury that Perverted Justice acted in a manner that entrapped her client.

When asked what evidence might be presented to prove such a claim, she replied by saying that she is still waiting for "discovery" information that will detail the process.

Bloomenthal — an attorney who was named one of Massachusetts's 10 "outstanding" lawyers by the Massachusetts Bar Association and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly newspaper in 2000 — said that Perverted Justice is difficult to pinpoint with its volunteers using screen-names.

"The group hides behind aliases," said Bloomenthal.

Perverted Justice has drawn both praise and criticism since its first conviction in 2004.

The group is probably best known for their work in stings featured on the Dateline NBC series "To Catch a Predator" — a highly watched television series that uses the group's online advocates to lure sexual predators to a mock home, where they are confronted by police and the host of the program, who asks them why they would solicit sex from underage boys and girls.

A recent show featuring a sting in Murphy, Texas garnered much attention when a local prosecutor from that region, who had allegedly exchanged graphic messages with a Perverted Justice volunteer, committed suicide.

Police said they believed Louis William Conradt Jr., a chief felony prosecutor from a nearby county, shot himself in the head as police approached his house to carry out a search.

NBC has confirmed being in Texas to shoot the show, but said they had no contact with Conradt, who has been identified by Perverted Justice for his online activity.

Residents and officials in towns used for the stings have also expressed concern that pedophiles are being brought into communities without their knowledge.

Bloomenthal said she will certainly be going after Perverted Justice for their tactics and noted that she is considering civil action against the watchdog group, the Belmont Police Department, and the NBC network.

"We are reserving all options, including NBC ... they are funding this," said Bloomenthal.

Bloomenthal said NBC's program has teamed up with Perverted Justice to make luring individuals into illegal behavior a "blood sport" forum to publicly humiliate them.

"Everything I am finding about their tactics is outrageous ... one of their suspects committed suicide rather than face arrest," she said.

Geoff Cunningham Jr. can be reached at 524-3800 ext. 5931 or via e-mail at gcunningham citizen.com.

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