Miss America Helps Bust Sex Predators

Beauty Went Undercover, Posed As 14-Year-Old On Web, Phone To Lure Suspects Into Police Trap

(AP)  Miss America Lauren Nelson can add Long Island crimefighter to her resume.

The Lawton, Okla., beauty recently went undercover with police in Suffolk County and participated in a sting operation targeting would-be sexual predators.

Officers with the county's computer crimes unit created an online profile of a 14-year-old girl that included photographs of Nelson as a teenager.

"I got to chat online with the predators and made phone calls, too," Nelson said in a telephone interview from Atlantic City, N.J. "The Suffolk County Police Department was there the whole time."

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Photos: Miss America

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The operation was taped for Fox television's "America's Most Wanted," which will air the segment on Saturday. Tim Motz, a spokesman for the Suffolk police department, said the operation was ongoing.

At least four men were arrested during the sting and face criminal charges, said Avery Mann, a spokesman for "America's Most Wanted." Another six men agreed to meet Nelson, he said.

Nelson, 20, posed online as a young teen and went into chat rooms, where she said men would begin sending her instant messages asking her how old she was and where she lived.

"I would say I'm a 14-year-old female from Long Island," she said. "Sometimes they would say, 'You're too young, sorry,' which is exactly what needs to happen, but some would continue chatting.

"It would only take a matter of time before it got pretty explicit."

Nelson then arranged to meet the men at a home in Long Island, where police and camera crews were waiting.

"The story was that they knew I was 14, and I told them I was cutting school to meet with them," Nelson said. "I stood outside on the porch, and I would say hi to them and wave them inside."

Once she entered the home with a man, Nelson left the room and police and "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh confronted him.

"That part was very scary, but the police were all over the place," Nelson said. "I was nervous, of course, but it was a very controlled environment, very safe."

Art McMaster, president of the Miss America Organization, said he initially was hesitant about Nelson's participating in the sting but agreed after speaking with Nelson's father and the producers of the television show.

"We came to the agreement that as long as she was safe and wanted to do this, we'd be behind her," McMaster said.

Nelson, whose platform issue is Internet safety for children, said she was eager to participate in the sting and draw attention to the dangers of the Internet.

"As many as we caught on that day, there are a lot more out there," she said. "It's nice to know that they were chatting with police officers and me rather than a 14- or 15-year-old girl."

[phoenix1218]

"Any kid who goes online to a *** chat room to show themselves off on webcams and try to score with an adult, should be thrown in jail.
Posted by jfebiala"

I agree with you.

"Well you sound like someone who does not care about Justice. Someone that cannot see the fine line between entraping the bad guys for public amusement and actually doing somthing to help promote personal responsability with your own Kids. Posted by didntinhale"

I do care about justice, and I repeat, I do not care if the reason why the big wigs do this kind of show is for ratings, so long as it gets these child predators off the streets and away from my children, and other young kids, I consider it justice. What Miss. America and Americas Most Wanted did is good. And I cannnot imagine John Walsh doing this kind of show JUST for ratings as his son was murdered when he was a young boy and all they ever found was his head. You tell John Walsh he did it JUST for the ratings.
I think AMW should do MORE shows like this, just like Chris Hansen with 'To Catch A Predator'

[michellem99-2009]

I have always looked much younger than I am. Therefore I have to carry ID. I am in my 50s. Due to the fact besides legally blindness I suffer from C/P. So my body ages differently. I can pass for 20. I get treated as such or younger. I have been dragged off to grade school in the 80s. I graduated in 74. I was so thin so no matter what I ate I could gain no wt. Stayed 100. The change.I put on some wt. There some of us have can pass for younger. I can't pic a pretty girl falling for old,fat guy. Wheels, a unhappy home life. She is dumb. The guy is playing with jail bait. There are girls who look,dress, act like aduit women. But they are children playing in a world they ought not. Parnets need to be teaching from from a young age,the house rules and be there for them. It long over due. Lock up the predators who prey on children. They are so bold a man grabbed my arm so tight that I could not break his grip. He must have thought I was some young girl but I was 50 at the time, I hollered for my friend. He ran. I think children should carry a cell with GPS with them.The buddy system is a good idea as well.

[randalds]

I think it's fine if they go after guys who solicit se*x from young girls and then actually show up at a house expecting se*x with a young girl. The only problem I have with it is that they should only be charged with incredibly gross stupidity! I mean how incredibly STUPID does a person have to be to think some cute young thing just can't wait to get her hands on an older bald beer bellied man? Do they really think they turn girls on? I mean if they did then they wouldn't have to go online in the first place. Besides these morons show up at one of these stings and the "girls" they use as bait don't look a day under 25 and some look 30+. And these are to catch child predators? The "girls" the shows uses look closer MILF's then teens and they sure don't look like children. It's becoming a joke.

[michellem99-2009]

I will not allow a web cam in my room.I am the only one on the computer. I stay out of chat rooms. Being in my 50s I am for getting them predators off our streets. Step upto the plate and demand changes. Children know the computer better than us adults. Here is the problem,the porn sites are off shore therefore we can't touch them. Yes the porn sites should and I say MUST have their own address.Children must step upto the plate as well here.This issue has to be deait with. Porn has no place here or anywhere.
The man that abused mey passed away. That helped in healing.As females and males who were/are abused,WE did not ask for that abuse as it was forced on each. The net can be good thing but they're a bad side. Parents use the filters on conputers.

[jfebiala]

Any kid who goes online to a *** chat room to show themselves off on webcams and try to score with an adult, should be thrown in jail.

[jfinster10]

There should be laws against people who misrepresent themselves online as 14 year old girls.

[sero5]

We should also kids criminally responsible for wanting to sexually expose themselves on webcams.

[kiddo88]

one word:

CASTRATION!

theres a bit of deterrent now, eh?

[climbingcats]

GoldSummer, you could not be MORE WRONG. The ones trying to show themselves on cam are NOT usually cops on Yahoo messenger. Yahoo messenger has a built-in way to invite people to view your cam which children/teens know all about. If you click OK when you are invited you can see whatever the person in front of the cam wants to show you. I was greatly shocked to see young people offering to show themselves on there. Get a clue, people. Yahoo says that their terms of service require you to be over 18 to enter adult rooms. These children enter adult rooms not only daily, but every hour every minute. The answer is not to put all pervs behind bars because the last time I looked, the sexual predators and registered *** offenders are situated in almost every neighborhood across the nation. There are literally thousands of them everywhere. What needs to happen is the media needs to focus on Yahoo messenger and Yahoo chat rooms specifically, from the Adult, Gay and Lesbian rooms to the Local city rooms and then SHUT THIS DOWN FOREVER. It is a breeding ground for pedaphiles, for criminals, not just *** perverts but for all kinds of criminal activity. Download it and see for yourself. It's there, everywhere. Go to Atlanta3 as a guy and meet the prostitutes. Go to anywhere else on there and experience the web bots selling *** and porn. Go take a good look. And weep for our society and our children until this is fixed.

[jennmarie620]

... and i am still confused on why they ***** out the word s e x when it's a story about s e x crimes ...

[jennmarie620]

... i am 25 ... eight years ago when i was 17 and the majority of people in this country had never heard of "internet *** crimes" i was convinced by a man i met online to leave my home in the states and meet him and his "wife" in canada where they kept me hostage for ten days until the police found me ... i can honestly tell you that the majority of predators online do NOT meet up with young children and teenagers with *** already on the table ... they encourage to meet to hang out, or spend some time together, or (when a teenager is depressed or feeling very neglected) with promises of a "friend" ... and then bad things happen ...

... stings like this are ENTRAPMENT and it's only a matter of time before a judge, or group of judges, throw all the convictions based on these stings out of court and release those men ... the only thing that might stop them from doing this again is being incredibly embarrassed on national television ...

... i am not for pedophiles ... and i am a victim's advocate ... but THIS is not the way to go about cleaning up the internet ...

((the first step is passing that bill for porn sites to be relegated to a .*** address and then have PARENTS actually pay attention to their kids and their kids' activities - after that, we can go further))

[goldsummer]

"as young as 13 who wanted to show me themselves on webcams (which is how I knew they weren't the police).....climbingcats"

Guess what... the ones trying to show themselves on cam to pervs.. usually are the cops.. its just a matter of monitoring the ips of those that DO attempt to view..If some one does actually attemt to view.. they are toast. Why do u think yahoo monitors and records ips addresses of those that use thier chat rooms? DUHHHHH

[pdbarrick-2009]

I think it was very courageous and wonderful of her to put herself in the line of fire to protect children from predators. The internet makes it even easier than it usually is for predators to take advantage of innocent children. I should know. It happened to me at 15 and there was NO ONE to protect me.

Pam
Georgia

[mountainzen]

The crazy thing is that Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC "Catch a Predator" series showed up as one of the "Johns."

Okay, I'm making that up. But I hear Dr. Phil showed up. Okay, Im making that up, too. Dang, can't think of anything funny about this story except that all the guys who fell for this deserve to get in trouble. Although the "Preacher's Wife" will get less time in prison for killing her husband than some of these pervs. Go figure.

[climbingcats]

Well, no one is asking the right questions here. How come no one ever holds places like Yahoo responsible for the cess pool messenger chat rooms that they host? If you go into the Atlanta 3 room and hang out for a few minutes you will understand that the criminals are hosted by these big companies. Police hang out trying to bust perpetrators, yet WHERE are they hanging out and WHY doesn't Yahoo or MSN or MySpace or any of the other cesspool companies clean up this stuff? I went onto one of these sites with the word 54 in my name which is my age, and I was hit up by boys as young as 14 or 15 who werent the police, and girls as young as 13 who wanted to show me themselves on webcams (which is how I knew they weren't the police). Until we hold Yahoo responsible for the crime infested chat rooms that they have created, we are not addressing the problem at all, only punishing those tempted by the open season declared by these criminal companies. Loopholes. Close the loopholes and make the media responsible for what it creates. Stop providing lessons in criminal mischief.

[itwasntme000]

Perhaps the easist bust to make is going after men who would take a chance with under 18 girls.
Wonder what DR Freud would say about this desire?
For hundreds of years, men married 14 -17 year old's. In some third world countries it is still done.
Posted by adventurepa at 10:23 AM : Apr 25, 2007

probably thousands of years. lol.
but still this is good that they are trying to get at these guys and put them where they belong.

[jetlizhan]

didntinhale -

wrong, you have been inhaling.

[phoenix1218]

"...I find these STAGED TV events a little self serving. My daughters are warned aboout what can happen if they meet someone from online and we also moniter their activities. These shows are staged so that TV producers can get RATINGS and they would run kids thru a meat grinder to get those. Other than that its a great idea.
Posted by didntinhale at 10:20 AM : Apr 25, 2007

(ME: Actually they NEVER use actual kids, they use young adults who could pass as kids)

Who cares if they are self serving or are done for ratings. Ultimately it gets these child predators off the street. I agree that as a parent we need to teach our children to be careful and what to do and not to do on the computer. i also do not think kids should have their own computer, at least not in their bedroom. A computer should be easily visible so the child will not attempt to do somehting wrong, or inadvertantly do something wrong...at least while a parent is home. All we can do as parents is teaching our kids right from wrong and about their own personal safety. But I also think these programs are good. I do not care what the networks reasons for doing them are so long as child predators get off the street.

[adventurepa]

Perhaps the easist bust to make is going after men who would take a chance with under 18 girls.
Wonder what DR Freud would say about this desire?
For hundreds of years, men married 14 -17 year old's. In some third world countries it is still done.

[dragonmouse-2009]

I'm a little bugged by "stings" like this because it doesn't seem right to set people up like this. BUT...and a BIGGGGG but. It totally amazes me how freakin' STUPID they can be by actually following through with it. With that in mind I'm just fine with getting them out of the "gene pool". They've had some of these MORONS strip down to nothing and WAIT for the girl to come out. HELLO.

You go Miss America roast 'em alive.