In recent months, the popular Web site MySpace.com, on which people post profiles of themselves and make connections with both friends and strangers, has gained the reputation as a dangerous place.
Authorities in the Baltimore metropolitan area have warned teenagers and children to use caution while using the site, fearing that sexual predators could use it to contact youths.
But recently, MySpace.com has made a bit of a comeback. In the past months, area police and prosecutors have found the site useful in fighting crime.
On Thursday, Howard County prosecutors negotiated a guilty plea from an 18-year-old robbery suspect, whom police tracked down via his MySpace site.
After the court hearing, the prosecutor in the case, Howard County Assistant State?s Attorney Kim Oldham, said she believes the site can be a good crime-fighting tool for police.
“Recently, it has gotten a lot of press because it?s being used in a negative way, but it can also be used in a positive way,” she said.
The 18-year-old?s attorney agreed.
“If it is becoming a crime-fighting tool, so be it,” said Warren Brown, a Baltimore lawyer. “I think law enforcement can use all the help it can get.”
Anne Arundel County police also recently used MySpace.com to track down and charge five people with robbery and assault in connection with the beating of three South River High School students May 5.
Lt. David Waltemeyer, an Anne Arundel County police spokesman, said the department?s school resource officers often search the site to “gather intelligence” aboutthe actions of the school?s students.
“It?s something that the [school resource officers] are using,” he said.
Earlier this month, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue officials announced that investigators had used MySpace.com to arrest two Rockville teens in connection with a series of arsons.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Chief Thomas Carr said a break in the case came when someone called investigators about postings related to the fires on MySpace.com.
Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org, an Internet safety group, said MySpace.com can be used for any purpose.
“It?s a technology that is neutral,” she said. “It could be used badly. It could be used well. Law enforcement who are smart are using MySpace and other social networks to investigate cyber crimes and regular crimes. Nobody?s using good judgment on the Internet, but the good thing is, the bad guys aren?t either.”
