Case Study

UK May 27, 2010- A pedophile postman used Facebook and Bebo to groom up to 1,000 children for sex.

After creating at least eight fake 'profiles', Michael Williams targeted youngsters he met on his postal routes, on school runs as a taxi driver, and in his role as secretary of a football club.

He dyed his hair different colors to hide his identity and pretended to be a young boy called 'James' and a teenage girl called 'Gorgeous Charlie' to meet children aged between 11 and 16.

Many victims were tricked into performing sex acts on a webcam but he convinced others to meet him in parks, on beaches and at his home, where he abused them.

Williams admitted to 27 charges at Truro Crown Court (UK), including grooming, sexual activity with a child and inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

But he asked for another 460 offenses to be taken into consideration – including voyeurism, sexual assault and child pornography.

Police have identified about 500 victims he groomed or abused but believe there could be up to 1,000 youngsters in total because hundreds are too scared to come forward.

Detectives described 28-year-old bisexual Williams – who kept newspaper cuttings about child killer Ian Huntley – as a 'predatory, manipulative and prolific offender'.

They praised the 'brave young people' who helped snare him but attacked Facebook, saying many sickening incidents could have been avoided if the social networking site had installed a 'panic button' which allows youngsters to alert authorities if they suspect they were being groomed.

Facebook had refused to install the function, despite public concerns following the conviction last year of a serial rapist who used the site to meet an unsuspecting teenage girl. But in an apparent U-turn this week, the site said it was working 'very closely' with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) center on the safety measure.

Detective Inspector Simon Snell said: 'Williams is a predatory pedophile who used the internet and his postal rounds to infiltrate the lives of his young victims and exploit them for his own sexual gratification.

The children who have been tricked into having sexual activity with this man are horrified and distraught. But some simple safety procedures could have stopped him.

A panic button is a visible deterrent which would provide reassurance to Facebook users. There is a real chance that some of Williams' victims would have pressed the panic button, which would have immediately informed Ceop, who would have then informed us.'

A spokesman for Facebook said the website was installing new security measures. He said: 'We cooperated with the police in this matter and disabled Michael Williams' profile when this came to light, while retaining data from the profile for any investigations.'

Between 2005 and 2009, Williams, of Penryn, Cornwall, pursued hundreds of children, signing up to Facebook, Bebo and MSN Messenger and posing as a youngster.

One victim, a 15-year-old girl, said: 'I hope he rots in prison. It is shocking what he has done.'
Williams has been remanded in custody for psychiatric reports and will be sentenced at a later date.

Inspirational Use Of Facebook

- we can remind others about assignments or homework on facebook, instead of calling or texting them.

- we can contact old friends who we are not in touch with anymore.

- we could be able to kept in touch of what's happening around your social life.

- Posting inspiring qoutes to inspire others.

- we could get help for your problems from the comments others post.

Cyber Wellness Tips

-Do NOT reveal private information such as mobile number, address,or even your school.

-Do NOT forward chain messages however threatening it is .

-Don't accept friend requests from people whom you do not know.

- Set you privacy settings to prevent anonymous people from viewing your profile.

Dangers Of Facebook

- Your personal information is being shared with third parties including people you don't know.

- You might be scammed by fake facebook profiles created by scammers.

- Privacy settings are being reverted to a less safe default mode after each redesign .

- facebook advertisements may unknowingly contain malware.

- anonymous people on facebook may turn out to be stalkers or paedophiles.

- facebook is a top-class hunting ground for stalkers and paedophiles as they can remain anonymous.

Some Interesting Facts :D

Hey! Do you know that ...

1.Facebook has over 350 million active users. More than 35 million users update their status each day, with more than 55 million status updates each day

2.More than 2.5 billion pictures are uploaded to Facebook each month.

3.An 18-year-old Wisconsin man posed as several different girls on Facebook to blackmail underage male teens into performing sexual favors by coaxing them to send nude photos of themselves. He could be facing up to 300 years in prison.

3.Tim Sparapani, director of public policy at Facebook, stated that hundreds of millions of people had never stopped and thought about the consequences of sharing information online.

4.Information deemed public—such as profile pictures, names, cities, and networks—are available to developers of any applications that Facebook users or their Facebook friends use on the site.

5.Girls can be prone to anxiety and depression by talking too much to their friends on Facebook. Called “co-rumination,” frequently discussing the same problem can lead to an unhealthy obsession.

Better think twice when posting something or chatting with someone!