Attorney General's News Release

November 13, 2007

Nixon provides Missouri State Highway Patrol with names of 249 additional sex offenders who had pages on MySpace.com

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today provided the Missouri State Highway Patrol with the names and other information of 249 additional convicted sex offenders identified as having pages on the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com. Nixon has now provided a total of 688 names of Missouri sex offenders to the Highway Patrol, and has asked the Patrol to examine the data to look for parole violations by offenders who may be barred from using a computer or contacting minors.

“Our investigation into the use of Web sites such as MySpace.com for sex offenders is ongoing,” Nixon said. “We will continue to work to identify and catalogue those who attempt to use the site as a means for committing criminal acts.”

Nixon said MySpace will continue its policy of immediately deleting the name of any user it identifies as a sex offender, and will preserve the offender’s account information to forward to Nixon’s office.

“As we have seen, there are some sex offenders who may still think that they can hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to continue to prey upon Missouri children,” Nixon said. “But the continued action of my office and my colleagues in other states sends a clear message to those who think they can operate in the shadows.”

Nixon stressed the importance of parents monitoring their kids’ activity on the Internet, and to report to law enforcement any suspicious activity they encounter.

Take the Attorney General's "Consumers Take Action" quiz

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to the Press Secretary.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818