Monthly Archive for March, 2007

Organ donation fund named after Platte Canyon victim

Keyes’ organ donation legacy gets signed into law:
The governor of Colorado signed a bill into law yesterday that extended the states organ donation project another 10 years. The law also named the program the Emily Keyes Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Fund after the only fatal victim in the Platte Canyon High School shooting. According to the article her donated corneas restored the sight of a man in my own state of North Carolina.

At least something good was able to come out of a pointless tragedy.

New Amish school to open

New Amish school to open after shooting:
On Monday a new school for the Amish children of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania will open. The new school replaces the one where Charles Carl Roberts barricaded himself inside and shot many of the students inside killing several before turning the gun on himself. The new school has been aptly named The New Hope Amish School.

Parents Lost in MySpace

LiLO, from Lost in Lima Ohio has a great post about tips for parents about MySpace. Go read it now.

Accused teacher still posting on MySpace

Teacher due in court still using MySpace site:
A teacher from Rialto High School in San Bernadino, California is still using his MySpace to communicate with students even though he’s facing criminal charges. 31-year-old Matthew Cepican was found with a 16-year-old student from Rialto High in his car in what the article describes as a remote area. He’s been charged with suspicion of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a minor. Age of consent in California is 18.

Meanwhile, Cepican has continued to post on MySpace.com, a popular online networking site, and former and current students have sent him messages of support.

On March 3, an 18-year-old man from Rialto who said he didn’t care what was said about his teacher posted this message: “sup mr.C & you still the downest teacher i had & .”

High school students said that Cepican was popular, laid back, young and hip and that they could use slang with him.

In a blog dated March 20, Cepican wrote, “I miss you all more than I can say. You got me through the toughest years of my life and owe all my dreams and success to you.

“My greatest reward ain’t some stupid recognition from my peers. My greatest reward is your love and respect. I will never forget you … .”

Thank God he’s not the English teacher.

Speaking of cyberstalking

Because we were you know…

Students arrested for creating fake myspace page:
Two more teens have been arrested for cyberstalking, this time in Louisiana. 17-year old Kerry Garland and 18-year old Jerett Crumbley created fake MySpaces of their principal and assistant principal.

Investigators say the two created the fake pages which allowed for inappropriate images and messages. Authorities say the cyber-stalking charges applies because the victims were being harrassed and had no control of what was being posted.

Fake MySpaces net cyberstalking charges

Students charged with cyber stalking:
We have another MySpace related story that happened in my back yard. Two students from Mooresville High School in North Carolina were arrested for misdemeanor cyberstalking after creating fake MySpaces of their assistant principals.

They portrayed one of the administrators as a pedophile, police said. They also used racist words.

Police were able to trace the MySpaces back to the suspects.

Remember kids, nothing is private on the internet.

No cameras during Fechteler trial

Judge rejects cameras for school violence case:
The Associate Press and other media outlets had made requests to the court to allow cameras into the proceedings for Frank Fechteler. Fechteler is accused of being in possession of bombs and plotting a school shooting at Newington High School in Connecticut. For once a judge has some sense beacuse he denied the media’s request.

Judge Patrick J. Clifford denied the motion Wednesday, stating that although the court is open to the public, he did not feel the cameras should be present.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” he said.

I don’t know why the media is so excited about this case. They usually reserve this kind of enthusiasm for celebrities or guys who kill their wives.

Kentucky crime spree posted on YouTube

YouTube video leads to arrest of Pike teen:
Jessica brings us more malcontents from the Bluegrass State. This time it’s 18-year-old Charles Jeremy Brown from Belfry, Kentucky. He was arrested on charges of 27 counts of menacing, eight counts of criminal mischief and one count of criminal littering. Police found the evideence of his crimes posted on YouTube. In the 3 pages of videos one can find Mr. Brown breaking church windows, vandalizing grocery stores and menacing drive-through restaurant workers. Thanks to Jessica we have not one but two MySpaces for him.

So, in honor of having the most well documented crime spree ever you Charles Jeremy Brown have been awarded the Red Forman Dumbass Award.

Red’s foot would menace your ass.

Teen arrested for trying to "hook up"

Teen allegedly sought sex on MySpace:
18-year-old Billy Craven of Radcliff, Kentucky was arrested for asking a 15-year-old girl to hook-up for sex. He’s been charged with three counts of unlawful use of electronic equipment means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or prohibited activities, which is a felony. Kentucky’s age of consent is 16.

I found a MySpace for Craven but it was bare bones.

It's not illegal if I don't meet them in person

Man Arrested For Nude Pics Of Girls On MySpace:
Another creep arrested for MySpace mis deeds. This the the subject in question is one Kevin Dale Pierce from the City of Angels. The 33-year-old Pierce was arrested for convincing teenage girls to send him nude pictures of themselves. Several external hard drives were found when police searched his house. How many girls did he contact top have that many hard drives? Pierce claimed to be a 19-year-old art student from UCLA.

The investigation started in January, when a Temecula resident reported that her 14-year-old daughter was swapping notes with someone who claimed to be a 19-year-old art student at UCLA, DeLuna said.

The two started an online relationship last November and, after several weeks, established a bond of trust, according to the sergeant. The suspect persuaded the girl to send photos of herself in various stages of undress, purportedly for an art project, DeLuna said.

The girl’s mother noticed her daughter’s computer screen and read messages from the suspect asking for additional pictures in varied poses, DeLuna said.

The woman told a deputy that the e-mail she spotted was from someone who called himself “kev pie” and thanked the girl for pictures she had sent him, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.

The e-mailer then requested that the girl send some more snapshots and wrote, “Is there any way you can also take the exact same angles, straight from behind and from the 45 degree side … but on the floor instead of standing? so I can draw the legs and the body bent in shape,” the affidavit states.

The mother did not know what the e-mail referred to and asked her daughter about it.

The girl later told investigators that she informed the person she was corresponding with that she was 14 years old. She told detectives that she and the suspect began chatting on “I Chat” after meeting on MySpace.com, according to the affidavit.

Investigators tracked down Pierce’s ISP address, accessed his MySpace account and determined he was actually 33 and that he had been communicating with at least 10 other girls, persuading them to send nude photos of themselves, police allege.

The best part is Pierce’s explaination.

“He seemed pretty eager to try to clear his name,” DeLuna said, adding that Pierce told them he did not believe he was breaking the law as long as he did not meet the girls in person.

I would love to have seen the cops’ faces when he told them that.

I could not find a definitive MySpace for Pierce.