WITH the news that a paedophile from Kent has been jailed for 18 years for grooming a child for sex over the social networking site Facebook, it is staggering to see how much crime has increased since the launch of the site in 2004. But has crime increased or has Facebook just drawn more intention to crimes and perhaps aided the police to find the criminals responsible. This would be difficult to say, but there has certainly been a development of a new genre of crime...Facebook related crime.
Martyn Palmer was sentenced in January at Maidstone Crown Court for 18 years after he was alleged to have groomed a 15 year old girl for sex. Despite being honest about her age, Palmer continued to send the girl explicit images and messages over the social networking site. Palmer though is not the first paedophile to try his luck through the site.
Jim Gamble who leads the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has warned that there has been a significant increase in parents and children complaining about alleged paedophiles using the site. Gamble added that the number of complaints has quadrupled since last year, rising to a staggering 252.
It is not just paedophiles that can be related to crimes with Facebook. Relationship statuses are far from squeaky clean. There have been many incidents, especially between husbands and wives that have seen a partner injured or killed because the other changed their relationship status.
In October 2008 a man was jailed for the murder of his wife because she changed her relationship status to 'single' just days after he had moved out. Wayne Forrester stabbed his wife Emma to death at their home in Croydon after hearing of the change on her profile page.
The couple had been together for fifteen years, but the court heard how Forrester tore lumps from her hair and beat her before stabbing her repeatedly. He was found sitting on his doorstep covered in blood by neighbours who were awoken by the screams.
Forrester was ordered to serve a minimum term of 14 years after the judge claimed that there can be no excuses for his actions and his terrible crime cannot be tolerated.
The couple had been together for fifteen years, but the court heard how Forrester tore lumps from her hair and beat her before stabbing her repeatedly. He was found sitting on his doorstep covered in blood by neighbours who were awoken by the screams.
Forrester was ordered to serve a minimum term of 14 years after the judge claimed that there can be no excuses for his actions and his terrible crime cannot be tolerated.
Unfortunately this incident is not uncommon since Facebook's founding in 2004. In September of last year, a care-worker and mother of four Hayley Jones, 26 was stabbed to death by long-term partner Brian Lewis, 31. The incident occurred after Mrs Jones changed her relationship status to single. Lewis who was a childhood sweetheart of Jones's swore that if he could not have her no-one could. Hayley Jones was found strangled and stabbed to death at her home in Wales just weeks after the pair split. Lewis fled the scene to leave their four young children to find the body on the sofa.
With so many crimes having a direct link to the world's most popular social networking site it would be hard to make a strong case that Facebook is helping crime figures. But it is not all bad news. Various groups have been added to the site, allowing for instant contact to authorities and for help and advice for people who think they have a problem. As for the relationship status there is no direct outcome available, other than not putting it on there.
No comments:
Post a Comment