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Phony Web Page Targets Teacher: Anti-Semitic, Child Porn Setup Could Yield Charges

Posted on: Thursday, 13 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Gita Sitaramiah, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Apr. 13--Authorities are investigating who created a phony MySpace.com page with an anti-Semitic reference and child pornography to harass a Coon Rapids Middle School teacher.

"We're looking into the likelihood that somebody set up a teacher to make it look like he was viewing child porn and had it available for others," said Capt. Rob Bredsten of the Anoka County Sheriff's office. "We think it's somebody who has a vendetta against him."

Bredsten wouldn't say whether investigators suspect students of creating the page on the social-networking Web site. He said that investigators were requesting a search warrant and that at least one person suspected in the case had been identified.

Felony charges could include harassment as well as possession and distribution of child pornography.

MySpace's 70 million registered users post searchable profiles that can include photos of themselves and such details as where they live and what music they like. The Web site's features and popularity with teens have raised concerns with authorities nationwide, with scattered accounts of sexual predators targeting minors they met through the site.

Reports about the MySpace.com page targeting the Coon Rapids Middle School teacher started coming in a couple of weeks ago, Bredsten said. One of them came from the teacher who heard reports about the page. Another was from the school after students reported seeing the page, said Principal Michelle Langenfeld.

So far, Langenfeld said she has not been notified that any students have been involved. The school blocks the MySpace site on its computers, she said.

"It's very serious, no matter which way you look at it," Langenfeld said.

The fake profile has since been removed.

An Anoka-Hennepin school district spokesman, Brett Johnson, said he thinks the case will help open a dialogue with students and parents about Internet safety and security. But Johnson doesn't believe schools can police how students use computers outside school.

"That's a pretty big weight to put on the schools, especially when kids are doing this from home computers," Johnson said.

School safety consultant Ken Trump said he is hearing about more cases in which students are turning to the Internet to target teachers.

"This gives students who have a vendetta against a teacher a source of power and control that they don't have in the classroom and the school building, where the adults are in charge," said Trump, who is based in Cleveland.

Trump believes schools need to have policies regarding students harassing teachers, and both schools and parents need to be aware of the dark side of technology.

"Kids are much more tech savvy than many adults anyway," Trump said. "The challenge is how do we narrow the gap between the two."

Gita Sitaramiah can be reached at gsitaramiah@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5472.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

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