New York Post, January 9, 1995 Front Page, pp. 8, 9. Four articles. A Post Investigation Computer Sickos Target Your Kids Child-porn perverts roam info-highway Furor Over Cybersmut Molesters With a Modem Kiddie-sex perverts using computers to lure victims By Lou Lumenick and Kieran Crowley City cops are about to start patrolling the information superhighway to hunt down child pornographers and pedophiles who are luring kids through high-tech computer bulletin boards, The Post has learned. "The bulletin boards are a total haven for pedophiles," said Sgt. Richard Perrine, who's forming a new computer investigation unit. There are no names and faces, and a 33-year-old man can pass himself off as a 10-year-old kid." Perrine said the new unit, in the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau, plans to include computer child-pornographers and pedophiles among its targets. "We haven't really solidified our strategy yet," he told The Post. "This is something that's so new, law enforcement is not quite ready for it." Law-enforcement officials say pedophiles are lurking on the nation's three major on-line services, America Online Prodigy and Compuserve where kiddie-sex perverts are using computers to lure victims -- as well as on the worldwide Internet, smaller online services, and locally-operated computer bulletin boards. On-line services are an easy way for pedophiles to meet children anonymously, noted Dyanne Greer, a senior lawyer with the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse. "Many cases are not reported, so I'm not sure anybody is really aware how much this is going on," she said. A Post probe uncovered these on-line horror stories: Westchester computer expert George Telesha pretended to be a 14-year-old girl on America Online and was quickly besieged by perverts sending dirty pictures. A Manhattan computer expert allegedly got a 13-year-old New Jersey boy he met on-line to go skating with him. Cops said the man lured the youth into the woods near the boy's home and sexually abused him six times between last July and September. An unemployed Brooklyn computer programmer tried to sodomize a Nevada teen-ager he met on a computer bulletin board. A 27-year-old computer engineer in Cupertino, Calif., allegedly met a 14-year-old boy through America Online. He is charged with handcuffing, shackling and blindfolding the boy and then taking him to his apartment, where he whipped him with a belt, shaved his pubic hair and had sex with him. California man sent pornographic photos via computer to a teen-ager, then sought to have the teen killed to silence him. Such crimes are not easy to investigate or prosecute, officials note. "It's a bigger problem than most people realize," said Mike Brick, director of the Orlando bureau of the Florida State Office of Law Enforcement. "There's a lot of people out there who want to have sex with children. If they hang out at a real playground, a teacher or someone might see them. In the computer playground they can more or less hide in the bushes." A handful of agencies have staffers pose as youngsters to solicit dirty pictures and come-ons, but many don't have the manpower, equipment or inclination to do so on a regular basis. And even if they did, experts say there's probably no way to completely stop on-line perverts -- who constitute a tiny fraction of overall on-line communicators -- short of shutting down the services. And that is not only unlikely, but would rob children and others of a valuable educational resource. The services say they're concerned -- but in no position to play the role of police. AOL spokeswoman Pam McGraw said computer-privacy laws keep her company's hands tied when it comes to the person-to-person type of communication in which porn can be exchanged in electronic "private chat rooms." "Federal law prevents us from monitoring E-mail," McGraw said. "We do our best to prevent misuse of our service." She urged AOL customers to report offensive communications -- which are prohibited under company rules -- so the company can warn offenders or eject them from the system. Law-enforcement officials say on-line companies are quick to cut off perverts and help track down and prosecute pedophiles and pornographers. But the crimes still flourish because computers make life simpler for the perverts. Pedophiles can easily pretend to be a child online, or even someone of the opposite sex, to help draw a child into a trap. And they can elude detection by using false names and post office boxes. "Offenders can say they're other kids, then arrange for face-to-face meetings," Greer said. "It's pretty scary when you find out you're dealing with a 47-year-old man instead of the 14-year-old you expected." Greer said some pedophiles have convinced children to pose for pornographic pictures. The pedophiles then trade the pictures with other perverts, or use the pictures to draw in other kids "and break down their inhibitions," she said. End Article 1 Article 2 Photo: CREEP CATCHERS: Special agent Mike Brick (white shirt) of the Florida state police and another agent track a pedophile on the computer. How to protect your children Steps parents can take to stop on-line pedophiles By Lou Lumenick Parents must take the offensive to protect their children from on-line perverts, experts say. "You wouldn't let a young child hang out in a playground or mall alone, so don't let them hang out in the computer playground by themselves," said Mike Brick of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "You need to exercise the same caution." So what can a parent do? First of all, experts say talk with someone at your on-line system -- whether it's America Online, Prodigy, Compuserve, Genie Delphi or one of the others. All of them allow users to limit access by children. Subscribers to America Online, for instance, can bar their children from the private "chat rooms," where the more sexually explicit conversations take place. Most services will also allow you to disable one-on-one conversations when your child logs on. Then talk with your children. Rule No. 1 is that they must never ever give their real name, address or telephone number to anyone on-line. Rule No. 2 is that they must never ever agree to meet with anyone they encounter on-line -- even if he says he's a kid the same age who lives across the street. He could very well be an adult willing to travel hundreds of miles for a sexual encounter. Beyond that, it's a matter of parental vigilance. "Make the kids teach you how to use the computer," said Dyanne Greer, a senior lawyer with the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse. "Many parents take the attitude, 'Gee, my kids are learning a skill.' That's very true, but you can't be left behind or you won't know what's going on. Many experts recommend moving the computer out of the kids' bedroom into a more central place -- like the living room -- so parents can keep a closer eye on things. "If your kid wants to put the computer in his bedroom closet, I would be very nervous," Brick said. "If you find your children spending a lot of time on the service, you need to pay attention. "If every time you walk into the room, the screen goes dark, check it out. It could be the modern equivalent of kids under the cover with a flashlight reading Uncle Harry's Playboy magazine. Or worse." Brick said telltale signs of porn being downloaded include: "If you have a 100-megabyte drive and it's always full and the kids are demanding more memory. Photos can take a lot of memory. " "If you find floppy disks hidden around the house." "If you need help playing them or figuring out whether there's a problem, go to your local police department. Most will be happy to help." End Article 2 Article 3 Chilling messages made dad take action By Kieran Crowley George Telesha couldn't believe his ears. Or his modem. Telesha, 46, a bank computer specialist and president of the Westchester chapter of the Fathers Rights Association, heard from several dads that their kids were accessing porn on their home computers. So he decided to take a walk on the wild side -- on the information superhighway. Telesha, the father of two, pretended to be a 14-year-old girl named "Suzy" on an America Online computer bulletin board. He said he was besieged with perverts who sent dirty pictures. Telesha said several men sent "Suzy" porno pictures, tried to get her address and phone number -- and tried to lure her out of her home. "Can I come up to New York?" one out-of-state man said. "Can I meet you? You don't have to tell your parents." When "Suzy" mentioned her parents were not home, another man became very insistent, Telesha said. "I live in New York. Can I come over? I'll take you shopping," the man messaged "Suzy" in trying to set up a date at a local mall. One man said he lived in New Jersey and invited "Suzy" over for a photo session. Telesha said his most disturbing exchange was with a man who sent child sex pictures. "Do you have any more of these?" Telesha asked. "Usually, it's just one session," the man typed back. "That sent chills through me," said Telesha, fearing the photographed children may have been harmed. "It's mind-boggling. I haven't slept in a week. What happened to the children in these pictures? What is going to happen to them?" One AOL subscriber even offered hints on how to pick up young girls and take pornographic pictures of them Telesha said. "I think people ought to know what's going on. I just want to see it stopped," he said. End Article 3 [Article 4 reports on exchanges between Telesha masquerading as three different girls and AOL subscribers. Too disgusting to post. Censorship imposed for lurking kiddies.]