30 Pedophiles Arrested in Virginia

[Checkmite]

Are they really "cheap to do"?

I figure anyone they capture would probably need at least a few days of interactions in order to convince them/arrange a meeting. Then there would all the wasted time interacting with people who don't try to meet. So they could waste days/weeks of manpower, all in order to arrest a person who probably wouldn't actually have the chance to meet someone anyways.

I'm not sure how that follows. If they made arrangements to meet and carried them through to the point where they actually traveled to the house of someone they thought was a child, to me that seems to establish an intention that outweighs the somewhat arbitrary hope that they "probably" wouldn't have gotten to meet a real child in that manner.

Consider also that pedophiles on the internet don't need to physically meet a child to exploit them, or cause damage. There is a gamut of harmful behavior that can take place during those "few days of interactions" if they're with a real child, even if the person never arranges or even suggests an in-person visit.

 

[smartcooky]

I'm confused, why would they need a firewall or a VPN? They're chatting through some form of service I'd assume (Facebook, Craigslist, etc). I can't imagine why network security would play a role at all.

Because some of these scumbags are very internet savvy. Maybe a firewall might not be needed, but a VPN would be a minimum precaution I would take against them potentially finding out they are talking to police.

 

[smartcooky]

SURVEY: MAJORITY OF WEB USERS ARE FBI AGENTS POSING AS TEENAGE GIRLS

Yeah.. that is funny

"According to the survey, which tracked online usage from January through July, 50.4 percent of U.S. Web users -- or nearly 38 million -- are FBI agents posing as teenage girls. That's still below the percentage of FBI agents posing as teenage girls in the overall population, which according to U.S. Census figures is 55.7 percent."

What's that website, the Tech version of "The Onion"?

 

[p0lka]

It kind of fits the Daily Mail style, they definitely roll on striking fear of everything outside the front door into the hearts of their readers. Fear of peodophiles is high on the list although they do also do a strong line in "look which (teenage actress/teenage singer/teenage daughter of famous person) is all grown up" web articles. Yes, they can be as creepy as that sounds.

 

[CORed]

I always wonder about how useful sting operations like that are.

I am not suggesting the individuals who were arrested would not have engaged in child abuse if they had the chance. But is really a common occurrence for adults to interact with children in that way? I figure >99% of the time that a pedophile thinks he's talking to a young child, they are probably communicating with some other man (or the police).

The internet: Where men are men, and women are men, and teenage girls are cops.

 

[Ziggurat]

Yeah.. that is funny

"According to the survey, which tracked online usage from January through July, 50.4 percent of U.S. Web users -- or nearly 38 million -- are FBI agents posing as teenage girls. That's still below the percentage of FBI agents posing as teenage girls in the overall population, which according to U.S. Census figures is 55.7 percent."

What's that website, the Tech version of "The Onion"?

Sort of. Their output is much, much lower, though, but they have some real gems. That link came out when the real news story was that majority of internet users were female for the first time. But my favorite bit, which I hadn’t remembered, was this quote:

Four out of five men say they watch women's gymnastics and figure skating for the athleticism. Nine out of ten women say they are lying.

Another one of my favorites from their archives:
CORRECTION: BUSH FAINTS AFTER CHOKING "THE" PRETZEL, NOT CHOKING "ON" PRETZEL

 

[gypsyjackson]

It kind of fits the Daily Mail style, they definitely roll on striking fear of everything outside the front door into the hearts of their readers. Fear of peodophiles is high on the list although they do also do a strong line in "look which (teenage actress/teenage singer/teenage daughter of famous person) is all grown up" web articles. Yes, they can be as creepy as that sounds.

The classic example from about 2002 or 2003 was the story about a paedophile being jailed, while on the facing page was an article about how Princess Beatrice had blossomed into a beautiful...14 year old.

If the arrests had happened in the UK, the Mail probably wouldn't have been able to publish the photos legally.

Has Virginia been a focal point for getting away with paedophilia in the past, so people have moved there, or is this a statistical anomaly? Or are there just lots of paedos across the US?

 

[pgwenthold]

The internet: Where men are men, and women are men, and teenage girls are cops.

Among the stupid things about this
1) these people are bad enough that they seek out sex with kids
2) these people are stupid enough that they actually think it's more likely that kids want to have sex with some slimebag they "meet" on the internet than it is some sting operation

 

[Checkmite]

Never know until you try, I suppose.

 

[rockinkt]

I'm not sure how that follows. If they made arrangements to meet and carried them through to the point where they actually traveled to the house of someone they thought was a child, to me that seems to establish an intention that outweighs the somewhat arbitrary hope that they "probably" wouldn't have gotten to meet a real child in that manner.

Consider also that pedophiles on the internet don't need to physically meet a child to exploit them, or cause damage. There is a gamut of harmful behavior that can take place during those "few days of interactions" if they're with a real child, even if the person never arranges or even suggests an in-person visit.

The highlighted part is very important. Take the case of Amanda Todd. This young girl posted a youtube video before she committed suicide. Some of you may be familiar with the case as the video went viral around the world.
I met Amanda briefly and know her mom and dad and have helped with fundraising for the foundation named in Amanda's honour.

(I)n January 2014 Dutch police arrested a man in a case involving multiple victims in the Netherlands, U.K., and Canada, having installed spyware on his computers; "chilling" chat logs of extortion, numerous images of child pornography, and 5,800 bookmarked names that served as a database of potential victims and their social networks were found.[35] In April 2014, it was reported that Dutch authorities charged a 35-year-old man of dual Dutch and Turkish citizenship (identified only as "Aydin C." within the Netherlands[3][36] in accordance with Dutch privacy laws) with indecent assault and child pornography.[3] That same month, the RCMP announced that the man had been charged with extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment and possession and distribution of child pornography for his alleged offenses against Todd and other child victims, both male and female.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd#Investigation,_arrest_and_conviction

Amanda's video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOHXGNx-E7E&bpctr=1587856028

 

[smartcooky]

The highlighted part is very important. Take the case of Amanda Todd. This young girl posted a youtube video before she committed suicide. Some of you may be familiar with the case as the video went viral around the world.
I met Amanda briefly and know her mom and dad and have helped with fundraising for the foundation named in Amanda's honour.

(I)n January 2014 Dutch police arrested a man in a case involving multiple victims in the Netherlands, U.K., and Canada, having installed spyware on his computers; "chilling" chat logs of extortion, numerous images of child pornography, and 5,800 bookmarked names that served as a database of potential victims and their social networks were found.[35] In April 2014, it was reported that Dutch authorities charged a 35-year-old man of dual Dutch and Turkish citizenship (identified only as "Aydin C." within the Netherlands[3][36] in accordance with Dutch privacy laws) with indecent assault and child pornography.[3] That same month, the RCMP announced that the man had been charged with extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment and possession and distribution of child pornography for his alleged offenses against Todd and other child victims, both male and female.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd#Investigation,_arrest_and_conviction

Amanda's video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOHXGNx-E7E&bpctr=1587856028

That was gut wrenching to watch - worse than gut-wrenching as a dad

 

[Dr.Sid]

There's an old saying: internet is place where all women are men, all men are children, and all children are FBI agents.

 

[Ziggurat]

Has Virginia been a focal point for getting away with paedophilia in the past, so people have moved there, or is this a statistical anomaly? Or are there just lots of paedos across the US?

There are 8.6 million people living in Virginia. In any population that large, there's bound to be a fair number of pedos. And there's no way to draw statistically meaningful information from a single case like this, which is intrinsically cherry picking. It's intrinsically cherry picking.

 

[Dr.Sid]

There are 8.6 million people living in Virginia. In any population that large, there's bound to be a fair number of pedos. And there's no way to draw statistically meaningful information from a single case like this, which is intrinsically cherry picking. It's intrinsically cherry picking.

Also depends on how old the agents claimed to be. If 10, those are true pedos. But with every extra year amount of men attracted will rise. At 15 most girls have adult bodies and it's normal to be sexually attracted to them. Still would be illegal in many countries. And of course there are predatory behaviors which are illegal even toward adult women.

 

[Elagabalus]

There are 8.6 million people living in Virginia. In any population that large, there's bound to be a fair number of pedos. And there's no way to draw statistically meaningful information from a single case like this, which is intrinsically cherry picking. It's intrinsically cherry picking.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=13066434#post13066434

Technically, it's Virginia, West Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland. The Washington Metro-Tri-State Alliance.

 

[Butter!]

Also depends on how old the agents claimed to be. If 10, those are true pedos. But with every extra year amount of men attracted will rise. At 15 most girls have adult bodies and it's normal to be sexually attracted to them. Still would be illegal in many countries. And of course there are predatory behaviors which are illegal even toward adult women.

If you say so.

 

[Dr.Sid]

If you say so.

My colleague has 15 year old daughter, she sings with our band, I would guess she's 20-30 if I didn't know. I know her from like 11 ? And it really changed gradually. The biggest change was when she started to dress more adult-like. Sudenly it's not kid anymore. And based on her friends I don't think she's special. And it's certainly not just me, all guys in the band had a remarks like that, and many guest at concert. Like who's the hottie, who from the band sleeps with her ? Trombone player's daughter, and she's 15. Ooops.
Btw. here age of consent actually is 15. I prefer girls my age, but I have no shame saying she's hot AF.

 

[applecorped]

Virginia is for Lovers

 

[wasapi]

Virginia is for Lovers

Amongst other things.

 

[mike81]

I'm sure I'll regret posting this, but here it goes.

I won't rush to judge the accused. There have been stories about similar sting operations where the "young girl" said she was of age. As the accused is on the way to see her, she informs him that she is underage. He either does not believe her or thinks she is now role playing, so continues to go be with her. It's things like this that has caused many of those cases to to dropped.

Now, I'm not saying that is what happened here. Just something to keep in mind.