First predator arrest via MySpace

Thanks to a joint collaboration between MySpace and state attorneys general, Connecticut authorities made its first arrest of a convicted sex offender, reports the Courant News.

Christopher Montefusco 30, of West Haven, was charged with violating parole by creating profiles on the popular social networking site. Authorities believe that there are more than 200 sex offenders in Connecticut using MySpace.

The arrest come on the heels of MySpace announcing that it will provide law enforcement nationwide with the names of more than 5,000 individuals it had identified as being sex offenders who had created profiles on its network.

Montefusco, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault on Aug. 30, 1996. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspended after 2-1/2 years served. One of the conditions of Montefusco's parole was that he not use a computer, the Internet or access social networking sites such as MySpace without first obtaining permission from his parole officer.

"The results here demonstrate the urgent and clear need for this kind of information from MySpace and other social networking sites," said Blumenthal, one of two attorneys general serving as chairman of a national task force on Internet safety. "Clearly, offenders like this are just the most visible tip of the predator iceberg," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

MySpace said although they have they deleted all of the profiles linked to convicted sex offenders last month, they have preserved the information in case it is needed for subsequent investigations.