By Luke Baker - Texas Insider
Published: 02-05-09
Thanks to Attorney General Greg Abbott another convicted sex offender has been removed from MySpace.com.
Jesse Clay Scott of Seguin was released on parole in 2008 following five-and-a-half years in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old female. Last week Abbott’s Fugitive Unit arrested Scott after he violated his parole by repeatedly using his cell phone and computer to access MySpace.
This arrest comes after the release of a startling “Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking” report that downplayed the threat of online sexual predators. 49 of the 50 state Attorney General’s joined in supporting the statement.
Abbott was the lone Attorney General to decline his support citing “inadequate safeguards for children and concerns that the agreement would give parents a false sense of security.” With over 90000 convicted sex offenders on MySpace nationwide and over 100 chat room and MySpace sexual predators arrested in Texas alone over the last four years Abbott’s decision seems to be a judicious one.
At his press conference yesterday Abbott said he believed that the 49 Attorney Generals supporting the agreement may have been influenced by a “heavy lobbying effort by those in the industry. I think it was a collective effort to try to downplay the heat MySpace has been feeling.”
Abbott finished his press conference with a word of family wisdom “The tool that’s most important for the safety of children on the internet is parents.”
