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Call 4 Action: Online Predators Thrive During Summer

POSTED: 4:42 pm EDT May 25, 2007
UPDATED: 5:03 pm EDT May 25, 2007

The following is a transcript of a report by Call 4 Action reporter Aaron Saykin that first aired May 25, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.


The end of the school year marks the start of a busy season for online sexual predators, police said.

Authorities said summertime is when children are most likely to be contacted by a sexual predator.

"Children tend to think nothing is going to happen, because they're talking to a machine," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. "Somebody's on the other side."

Most recently, according to Corbett, Stephen Turchetta, 39, of Altoona, was charged on Thursday with using the Internet to sexually proposition what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Instead, Corbett said, Turchetta was talking to a special agent from his office who was posing as young teen.

Pennsylvania has joined several other states, ordering the popular Web site MySpace to reveal all registered sex offenders with their own MySpace pages.

The big concern was that online predators would thrive in the summer with so many young teens home alone.

"They can hide until the very last moment and that last moment, can be when they meet your child and take your child away, and you don't see your child again," said Corbett. "That's what parents have to think about."

If you happen to come across any suspicious activity online, Corbett would like you to report it to his online predator unit by calling 800-385-1044.


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