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For
18 days, members of a regional task force conducted an
online investigation to combat cyber-crimes against teens.
According to Virginia State Police Capt. Gary Jenkins Sr.,
the operation featured 17 specially trained investigators
from the Northern Virginia-D.C. Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force. They created teen identities on the
Internet and visited various chat rooms.
The ploy worked.
Jenkins said investigators
opened 36 cases -- one for each person who allegedly
solicited the "teen-agers" for sex and other related
activities. Ten people were arrested and face varied
charges, including use of a communication system in the
commission of a felony. The rest of the cases are pending
and more arrests are expected, Jenkins said.
Abdullah Mamun, 25, of Warrenton, was arrested and charged
with a felony count of using electronic means to facilitate
certain offenses involving children in one of the cases Nov.
9.
That day, a Fairfax
County detective who
is a member of the task force also requested a search
warrant to look for evidence at Mamun's house.
In an affidavit requesting the warrant that was filed in
Fauquier County Circuit Court, the detective said he set up
a screen name and claimed to be a 14-year-old
Fairfax girl. The detective
stated that someone claiming to be a 19-year-old boy from
Manassas contacted him using a screen name and instant
messages.
"During the conversations, the subject requested a meeting
to engage in 'sex,' " the detective said.
They arranged to meet somewhere in Fairfax
County.
Mamun was arrested and interviewed after he arrived at the
pre-arranged meeting place, the detective said.
Also arrested as a result of the investigation were Antonio
E. Agront, 39, of
Manassas Park;
Matthew Joseph Miller, 22, of Ashburn; Vikram Jeet Singh
Bajawa, 20, of Centreville; Thanh "Nathan" Quach, 29, of
Falls Church; and
Kyle Dale Gibson, 21, of Falls Church.
Based at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
Cyber Center Headquarters in Fairfax, task force members
also nabbed some men who live as far away as Richmond and
Portsmouth, Jenkins said.
Some of them, like Mamun, were arrested after they went to
meet the "teens," Jenkins explained. Others were arrested at
their homes.
Success story
The operation -- which began in late October and wrapped up
in mid-November -- was the second conducted by the task
force this year. More than 20 people were arrested as a
result of the first one in March, according to state police.
"We're seeing pretty consistent numbers," Jenkins said. "But
(our latest) initiative really demonstrates (another) change
in the demographic of the 'typical' online sexual predator."
Traditionally, the people who have been arrested on charges
stemming from the online solicitation of minors have been
white men, Jenkins explained. But as more people have gained
access to the Internet, online predators have become "more
diversified in population," he said.
Faced with what state police refer to as a "rapid explosion"
of online child exploitation, pornography and exploitation,
members of 20 law enforcement agencies teamed up to create
the task force last year.
Funding for training, equipment and online investigations is
provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
"All of the investigators must go through a 40-hour training
course," Jenkins said. Investigators must adhere to strict
guidelines to ensure that they have solid cases against
alleged perpetrators.
"At least 90 percent of the people who are arrested in these
cases plead guilty," Jenkins said.
E-mail the reporter:
abogdanovic@timespapers.com
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