By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Attorney General Jay Nixon's office has given the Missouri Highway Patrol the names of 178 registered sex offenders who have been using the MySpace web site.
The offenders' names appear on lists that the social networking site recently gave Missouri officials. Last month, MySpace announced it would release information about sex offenders who opened accounts.
Nixon says he is concerned other offenders might be on the site using false names and ages. Authorities will investigate to see if any of those named are violating probation or parole.
Nixon says MySpace will continue to look for registered sex offenders and pass their information -- including their e-mail and internet provider addresses -- on to his office.
"The cooperation of MySpace in identifying these sex offenders and providing us with that information is an important part of this process," said Nixon, in a statement.