Private Investigator News and Information

16-year-old accused of threatening 2 others via MySpace page

By Denes Husty III
dhusty@news-press.com
Originally posted on January 09, 2008

A 16-year-old Lehigh boy has been charged with cyber stalking, a crime that is still relatively rare in Southwest Florida but gaining notoriety nationwide.

Joseph D. Carrozza, 16, of 4109 S.W. 20th St., is accused of making threats against two other teen-age boys — who allegedly belong to a rival gang — via MySpace, an international Web site that offers e-mail, a forum, communities, videos and blog space.

The charge is rare, said John Sheehan, sheriff’s spokesman.

“It’s not everyday that you see something like this,” Sheehan said.

Sheriff’s Detective Chris Shoap, who investigated the case, said he’s only investigated one other cyber stalking case in his 11 years with the agency.

Although cases may still be few in Southwest Florida, the crime is getting more attention from law enforcement, said Assistant State Attorney Mike Provost.

“We may be becoming more aware of the problem,” he said.

A recent case in point focused national attention to the problem of cyber bullying.

Megan Meier, 13, of Missouri, committed suicide last year by hanging herself after being dumped by “Josh” on MySpace.

Josh, in this case, was fictitious.

He was created by the mother of one of Megan’s former friends who wanted to know what Megan might be saying about her daughter online.

Although Megan’s parents maintained their daughter’s suicide was the result of the cyber harassment, Missouri prosecutors determined last month there wasn’t enough evidence to press criminal charges.

In a local case in June 2005, Jeffrey Johnston, 15, of Cape Coral, committed suicide after being bullied online.

His mother created the nonprofit Students for Safer Schools to help stop bullying and cyber harassment.

A bill to empower schools to hold bullies accountable for harassing students away from school, such as the Internet, passed the state House last year but not the Senate. There is expected to be a renewed effort to get the bill passed this year.

In Carrozza’s case, a private detective from California — who is investigating the unrelated case of a missing Sarasota girl — alerted deputies about threats she found on MySpace, Detective Shoap said.

The threats apparently involved members of rival gangs, he said.

The recipients of the threats were challenged to come to the public library in Lehigh Acres for a fight, the detective said.

However, only Carrozza showed up, Shoap said.

The detective said the threatening e-mails were traced to Carrozza’s address on MySpace.

Carrozza was arrested Monday and charged with a count of cyber stalking a person younger than 16, a third-degree felony carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Carrozza also is charged with cyber stalking a person older than 16, which is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail.

He was booked into the Lee County Jail and later released.

The investigation is continuing and more charges are possible, Shoap said.

The lesson to be learned, the detective said, is parents need to pay attention to their children.

“Parents need to be involved in their kids’ lives, their lifestyle and what they’re doing on MySpace,” Shoap said.

By John Leyden
www.channelregister.co.uk

More US states are moving towards laws that limit computer forensics work to those with Private Investigator licences, or people contracted to work for licensed investigative agencies.

Pending legislation in South Carolina would limit the specialist work of capturing and making sense of evidence on computer discs and server logs to businesses whose main line of work is serving legal process or matrimonial investigations. The bill covers computers forensic evidence presented in court.

Computer evidence compiled by unlicensed practitioners would be excluded from admission in either civil or criminal cases under the regulation. Those caught practicing without a licence to collect evidence for court (though not on a private basis) could face criminal prosecution.

Enterprises or private individuals would still be free to hire anyone they choose for private investigations. Computer forensics is often used as an internal investigatory tool following computer intrusions, or in response to suspicion of staff misuse of internet resources.

Georgia, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington already have similar legislation, Baseline Magazine reports. The idea is that by restricting the preparation of computer forensics work for presentation in court promotes higher standards and keeps out the cowboys.

However, expecting computer forensics experts to have a PI licence makes about as much sense as requiring PIs to have computer science degrees. Most private investigators come from a police or forces background. The regulations smack of protectionism.

Commonly, specialist agencies handle IT-related work such as counter-surveillance and forensic examination. Data recovery firms and others with computer forensics expertise may be equally capable in preserving and processing computer evidence, but are locked out of the business in the US, unlike other countries such as the UK where such firms are typically swamped with work.

Ernesto Rojas, CEO of Forensic & Security Services, Inc., has received the results of a request for various legal opinions from the Texas Private Security Board, regarding licensing regulations effecting computer security consultants and computer forensic examiners. It is important that these practitioners, as well as the entities hiring their services, are familiar with the licensing regulations, as violations carry steep financial and legal penalties.

These regulations were implemented to protect Texas consumers using these services. As Texas moves forward with the formalized licensing of computer forensic examiners and security consultants, Texas consumers will experience greater protection from unscrupulous individuals who may have ulterior motives for gaining access to computer based confidential and private information.

In a nutshell, any individual gaining access to another individual’s or an organization’s private and personal information, in Texas, must be licensed by The Texas Department of Public Safety - Private Security Board. Some of Topics addressed by the Private Security board include differentiation between computer forensics and e-discovery services, the licensing requirements for network intrusion consultants and penetration testers, and clarification of computer repair establishments work scope limits.

The following is a brief explanation of the PSB’s recent rulings. Official documentation of the board’s rulings can be found on the PSB website.

Analysis of computer-based data for the purposes of discovering information related to the causes of an event or an individual’s conduct requires licensing. Mere scanning, retrieval, and reproduction of data associated with electronic discovery or litigation support services do not. Since network intrusion consultants and penetration testers have potential access to their clients’ confidential information, these professionals must be licensed.

Additionally, companies which offer computer repair or support services should be aware that they must be licensed investigators if they offer to perform investigative services, such as assisting a customer with solving a computer related crime. The review of computer data for investigating potential criminal or civil matters and offering to perform such services are activities regulated under Chapter 1702 of the Texas Occupations Code.

For more information regarding the Texas Private Security Board, please visit their website http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb. The complete text of the administrative rulings can be found at http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/docs/psb_opin_sum.pdf.

Forensic and Security Services, Inc. is a Houston based firm offering computer forensics, data collection, and expert testimony to attorneys and corporate clients. The firm’s investigators and/or private security consultants are fully licensed by the State of Texas.