Caught in the act – Four men, including one from Scarborough, exposed as online predators
Caught in the act
Four men, including one from Scarborough, exposed as online predators
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Many people have seen the NBC newsmagazine “Dateline” and its series “To Catch a Predator.” An operation much like the one seen frequently on television played out for the last month in South Portland and four men, including one from Scarborough without a criminal record, were caught.
The four men were expecting a meeting with a 13-year old girl they had met online. Instead, the 13-year old girl was someone from Perverted Justice whose job it is to seek out and find online predators. South Portland Police were waiting to arrest the men when they thought they were picking up the girl at a specific location.
All four men – 21-year old Matthew Gould of Scarborough, 27-year old Nicholas Webster of Lewiston, 50-year old Terry Lee of West Bath and 59-year old Wayne Havey of West Bath – were charged with attempted gross sexual assault, which is a Class B felony.
All of the men who were arrested, including Gould, had no history of criminal activity.
The South Portland Police Department originally contacted Perverted Justice last summer to help catch online predators in Maine, according to Sgt. Steve Webster. Webster said that the department was interested in working with Perverted Justice because they seemed like an organization that would “work with, not against” the police department.
According to Xavier Von Erck, director of operations for Perverted Justice, South Portland is part of the organization’s “Information First” program, where communities sign up to receive internet predator cases.
Von Erck said a volunteer from Perverted Justice was working on the South Portland program. He said the organization was gratified by the results.
“We’re quite pleased with the four arrests and cases – we think they’re very strong,” Von Erck said. “The work mostly entailed one of our volunteers working Maine chat rooms, being contacted by predators and the just letting the conversation go where it goes.”
Perverted Justice put a profile online for approximately a month’s time and, during that time, the four men were caught.
Four men, including one from Scarborough, exposed as online predators
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Many people have seen the NBC newsmagazine “Dateline” and its series “To Catch a Predator.” An operation much like the one seen frequently on television played out for the last month in South Portland and four men, including one from Scarborough without a criminal record, were caught.
The four men were expecting a meeting with a 13-year old girl they had met online. Instead, the 13-year old girl was someone from Perverted Justice whose job it is to seek out and find online predators. South Portland Police were waiting to arrest the men when they thought they were picking up the girl at a specific location.
All four men – 21-year old Matthew Gould of Scarborough, 27-year old Nicholas Webster of Lewiston, 50-year old Terry Lee of West Bath and 59-year old Wayne Havey of West Bath – were charged with attempted gross sexual assault, which is a Class B felony.
All of the men who were arrested, including Gould, had no history of criminal activity.
The South Portland Police Department originally contacted Perverted Justice last summer to help catch online predators in Maine, according to Sgt. Steve Webster. Webster said that the department was interested in working with Perverted Justice because they seemed like an organization that would “work with, not against” the police department.
According to Xavier Von Erck, director of operations for Perverted Justice, South Portland is part of the organization’s “Information First” program, where communities sign up to receive internet predator cases.
Von Erck said a volunteer from Perverted Justice was working on the South Portland program. He said the organization was gratified by the results.
“We’re quite pleased with the four arrests and cases – we think they’re very strong,” Von Erck said. “The work mostly entailed one of our volunteers working Maine chat rooms, being contacted by predators and the just letting the conversation go where it goes.”
Perverted Justice put a profile online for approximately a month’s time and, during that time, the four men were caught.
I know one of the four men that were apprehended in this case. I always had a strange feeling about him and I was right on target! I hope for the kids sake that this kind of operation will continue in the Portland area as well as all of the State of Maine.
Thanks for your good work people !
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