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The investigation of Spokane Mayor James West began as a series of articles in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, in 2003.  At that time, allegations were made against Mr. West and others, involving them in several cases of sexual abuse of young men at a Boy Scout Camp.

The Spokesman-Review was informed by a tipster that Mayor West was frequenting a gay chat room on Gay.com and had solicited young men for sexual favors, both online and off, in exchange for positions within the city government.

An unnamed computer forensic expert was hired by the Spokane Spokesman-Review to join the chat on Gay.com and to engage Mayor West in conversation.  According to Steven A. Smith, Editor of The Spokesman-Review the parameters for the investigator had been set prior to any conversation with Mayor West.

According to a chat transcript posted on the Spokane Spokesman-Review web site:
"The parameters for the consultant were as you describe. He was not to initiate contact or initiate any escalation. He was to keep the subject talking until we could move him into an environment that would allow for technical tracking of the conversation or provide other irrefutable evidence that the man was Mayor West."

Little is known as to how the first contact was made between the expert and Mayor West. No credentials establishing the expertise of  the expert have been forthcoming.

The outlaw vigilante group Perverted Justice.com operates with the same tactics taken by the Spokesman-Review expert, in that nothing is known as far as a first contact; no evidence is properly collected or documented. Perverted Justice operators cruise Internet chat rooms, primarily on Yahoo! and AOL chat, in hopes of entrapping online predators. In their case, it is a random troll, with no specific person in mind. It is apparent that in the Spokesman-Review case, a specific person was targeted.

Both Perverted Justice.com and the Spokesman-Review violate web chat sites terms of service, in that they misrepresent themselves, and that they stalk and harass users.

In the broader sense, does this set a precedent for others using web chats?  People chat for a multitude of reasons, not just sexual. Battered wives/husbands go to domestic abuse chat rooms seeking help; persons with HIV/AIDS get online support from others in discussions and chat, and the list is endless.

Should all who use chat now fear that persons are engaging them in conversations, to use the chat conversation against them in the future? People use chat and expect a reasonable amount of privacy, at least as much as can be had on the Internet, and should not have to live in fear that the person they are conversing with is a reporter, or in the case of Perverted Justice, an anonymous vigilante.

--Peter J. Carr Owner Chatmag.com--

Related Links:

Vigilante Web Site Perverted-Justice.com harming legitimate law enforcement  efforts to stop online predators.  Chatmag opposes "vigilante" web site.
 
 

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