This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 18, 2009 - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster says that his office has removed 373 Missourians from MySpace "because their profiles appear to match those of registered sex offenders."
His office has forwarded the names to the Missouri Highway Patrol, who have been asked "to review the information to determine if any of the individuals are violating parole by using a computer or attempting to contact minors."
In January 2008, MySpace entered into an agreement with state attorneys general around the country "to increase protections for young children and teenagers from online predators,'' Koster said in a statement. "As a result of the agreement, MySpace instituted a policy of deleting the profile of any user it identifies as a sex offender.
“We must protect our children from sex offenders, whether children are playing in a playground or on a computer,” Koster added. “I applaud the nation’s attorneys general’s agreement with MySpace. As Missouri’s attorney general I will continue to aggressively pursue any avenue sex offenders use to threaten the safety of our children.”
Koster also praised this week's ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court that requires all sex offenders to register on the Sex Offender Registry, "no matter when the crime was committed."
That ruling appeared to be aimed at offenders who had been minors at the time of their crime.
