Computers, Perversion and Stupidity Don’t Mix

A 39 year old Lancaster County, Pa. man had not seen nor heard from his daughter for ten years. She had been 3 years old and if she had any memories of him at all they would have been dim. Then the man finds his daughter on Facebook, the social networking tool. He hops on the net and tells her he wants to see her again. How sweet. They could have met for burgers and shakes and talked about the years past and hopes for the future. She would probably have liked that.

But no. The man who signed on as “Big Daddy” had become a pervert who wanted to get together to satisfy his own lust. One printable part of what he wrote: “Not many other fathers and daughters are this brave, so not many of them are so lucky to experience all these pleasures.” How utterly gross. And how unfathomably stupid. I’m no bookie, but I figure the odds are about one in one billion that this poor kid would think: “So what if he’s three times my age and walked out of my life 10 years ago, this could be fun.” Of course she told her mother who called the police, who in turn called the state Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit.

“Big Daddy” must have been thrilled to hear back from ‘his daughter’ and set up a time and place to meet. When agents of the Child Predator Unit descended on him, they found in his car not just the expected unopened pack of condoms but a digital still camera, a camcorder, and enough computer gear to start an electronics store. He won’t need it where he’s going. “Big Daddy” (His real name won’t be released by the press because it’s the same as his daughter’s, and names of sex crimes victims are not and should not be published) faces felony charges of unlawful conduct with a minor, and attempted incest, which carry maximum prison terms of 20 and 10 years respectively. If stupidity were a crime he’d get fifty years.

Prosecutors love cases like this because there is no viable defense.

By the way, “Big Daddy” is only one of five internet predators rounded up that week, because Pennsylvania uses decoy agents who pretend to be 13 year old girls, and there are always people on the net willing to believe they are. In the same batch is a 27 year old Philadelphia Emergency Medical Technician who sent nude pictures of himself and pornography to a decoy. Michael Quartucci now faces 16 counts of unlawful conduct with a minor and unlawful use of a computer. Each are 7 year felonies, so he won’t be answering any calls for awhile.

Meanwhile, my hat’s off the decoys who help see internet perverts put away.