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Online Predators

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Canadian National Charged In DC After Chatting With Undercover Agent Posing As Pedophile: Feds Canadian National Charged In DC After Chatting With Undercover Agent Posing As Pedophile: Feds
Canadian National Charged In DC After Chatting With Undercover Agent Posing As Pedophile: Feds A 31-year-old Canadian national was arrested in his Washington DC home this week and faces child pornography charges following an FBI investigation monitoring predators online, federal authorities announced. Matthew Norman Ballek, of Saskatchewan, was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon following an indictment that charged him with the distribution of child pornography after he distributed video files of men engaging in sexually explicit conduct with minors. According to the indictment, on Jan. 23, a member of the Metropolitan Police Department's Child Exploitation Task Force was moni…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Second 'Traveler' Targeted Teen For Sex In Maryland Within One Week, Sheriff Says Second 'Traveler' Targeted Teen For Sex In Maryland Within One Week, Sheriff Says
Second 'Traveler' Targeted Teen For Sex In Maryland Within One Week, Sheriff Says Another sexual predator is behind bars in Frederick County after preying on a teenage girl online, authorities announced on Friday. Middle River resident Brian Williams, 37, is facing a host of charges after being caught by investigators after they were tipped off about a 15-year-old girl who was sexually involved with a grown man. During the investigation, members of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office uncovered multiple messages that showed Williams soliciting the teen for sexual acts, the two exchanging explicit images, and he had sex with the girl in Frederick County, according to off…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Undercover Agent Busts Virginia Man Who Drove To Maryland For Sex With A Minor, Sheriff Says Undercover Agent Busts Virginia Man Who Drove To Maryland For Sex With A Minor, Sheriff Says
Undercover Agent Busts Virginia Man Who Drove To Maryland For Sex With A Minor, Sheriff Says A Virginia man who crossed over state lines for sexual acts with what he thought was a teen girl in Frederick County is behind bars. Brian Brooks, 43, of Stephens City, has been charged with multiple counts of sexual solicitation of a minor after being busted by an undercover officer he believed to be a teenager, a Frederick County Sheriff's spokesperson announced on Monday. In October, a detective performing an online investigation began posing as a 14-year-old girl, and the two began talking thorough a messaging apps, and despite being warned that he was speaking to a minor, Brooks allege…

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by Zak Failla
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Search Is On For Missing 'Endangered' Maryland Teen Believed To Have Been Lured Online Search Is On For Missing 'Endangered' Maryland Teen Believed To Have Been Lured Online
Search Is On For Missing 'Endangered' Maryland Teen Believed To Have Been Lured Online Concerns are mounting for a Maryland teen who has been missing for nearly a week and may have been lured away from her Montgomery County home by a predator online. Rockville resident Sophia Isabella Roach, 15, has not been seen by friends and family since Tuesday, July 11, and without her cellphone, raising alarm bells for investigators. The teen was last seen at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday night in the 5600 block of Whitney Mill Way in Rockville. The teen was last seen in the 5600 block of Whitney Mill Way in Rockville. Google Maps satellite view According to the national Blac…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Predator Preying On 'Teen' Online Busted By Undercover MD State Police Investigators Predator Preying On 'Teen' Online Busted By Undercover MD State Police Investigators
Predator Preying On 'Teen' Online Busted By Undercover MD State Police Investigators Investigators from the US Army gave Maryland State Police a hand to apprehend a 55-year-old predator who targeted teens online, according to authorities. Walkersville resident Michael Vance Culpepper, 55, was arrested on Monday, May 8, after he agreed to meet with undercover officers posing as a 13-year-old girl with nefarious intentions. The probe into Culpepper was launched in April when the state police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was conducting an undercover online investigation on a social networking site. It is alleged that Culpepper began engaging in an inappropria…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Ex-Virginia State Police Trooper Dead After Abducting California Teen, Killing Her Family Ex-Virginia State Police Trooper Dead After Abducting California Teen, Killing Her Family
Ex-Virginia State Police Trooper Dead After Abducting California Teen, Killing Her Family A former Virginia State Police trooper was killed in a shootout with police who say he traveled across the country to Riverside, California, where he abducted a teenage girl he met online, before killing her mom, grandmother, and grandfather. Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, parked in a neighbor’s driveway and allegedly set the family’s home on fire before kidnapping the teen he “catfished” on Friday, Nov. 25, according to the Riverside Police Department. Edwards had previously worked as a trooper with Virginia State Police in Henrico County from early January until his resign…

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by Nicole Acosta
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Maryland State Police Issues Warning Of Online Scam Involving The Sexual Extortion Of Minors Maryland State Police Issues Warning Of Online Scam Involving The Sexual Extortion Of Minors
Maryland State Police Issues Warning Of Online Scam Involving The Sexual Extortion Of Minors The rise of sexual predators targeting minors on social media has led Maryland State Police officials to issue a warning to parents. Authorities said that state police investigators have received multiple reports of minors being contacted by other social media users who began conversing with them over messaging services on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. “Investigators believe online predators may often give the impression they are romantically interested in the minor being targeted, to gain their trust,” they stated. “As the chats progress, the suspect user will request sexually illic…

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by Zak Failla
News
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know Reports of adults ‘sextorting’ teenage boys into sending them sexual videos or photos online are booming, particularly involving victims 14 to 17 years old, the FBI warns. In 2021 alone, its Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 18,000 sextortion-related complaints of various types, the bureau announced on Wednesday, April 13. A growing number involved late-teen boys targeted by predators posing as someone else, federal authorities said. It ordinarily begins with a contact through social media or on a gaming site. The adult predator or scammer "convinces the child to s…

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by Jerry DeMarco