13 September
2006 Chatmag News.
According to a
news story by Jason Trahan on Montereyherald.com, alleged online predator
Philip Schlagel is in jail awaiting trial on child predator charges.
Schlagel had engaged
in an online conversation with Kevin Cope, who is a "volunteer" for Perverted-Justice.com.
Cope had been posing as a 14 year old girl.
Conflicting reports
state that either Schlagel, or his girlfriend, had blocked Cope from private
messaging, but that Cope created a new online profile, and continued messaging.
Initiating online chats to later use them against another is entrapment,
and law enforcement is forbidden to engage in the practice.
Should the Instant
Messenging chat logs show that the Perverted-Justice.com "volunteer" had
indeed changed screen names and pursued Schlagel, Cope could himself face
stalking charges.
Cope, being a
"volunteer" and not law enforcement, was not bound by the rules governing
entrapment. Perverted-Justice.com maintains their "volunteers" are not
law enforcement, and not bound by legal guidelines associated with law
enforcement.
Perverted-Justice.com
has been featured in a Dateline NBC special, "To Catch A Predator". NBC
has paid Perverted-Justice.com over $100,000.00, taking away their "volunteer"
status and making them defacto NBC employees.
Dateline NBC has
been sharply criticised by journalism scholars, law enforcement officials
and others regarding their series.
Perverted-Justice.com
is not a registered non profit, and it's legal status is in doubt. As best
as can be determined, Perverted-Justice.com is the sole proprietorship
of Phillipe Eide, the founder. In past statements made by Eide, he is unclear
as to his status as a business entity, and in fact does not know who has
received the NBC payouts.
--Chatmag News
Staff--
External Link:
Montereyherald.com
"An obsession with sex, indulged on Web, regretted behind bars" by Jason
Trahan. (Article no longer available, contact the Monterey Herald for more
information)
Related article
by Jason Trahan and Chris Colgin:
Campaign
against child sex predators draws critics.
Related article
by Chris Colgin:
Case dismissed
by police, but not by the public. (Article no longer available, contact
the Monterey Herald for more information)
