June 21, 2007

            LANSING - Attorney General Mike Cox today announced that he has obtained the list of sex offenders using the popular social networking site, MySpace.  Two weeks ago, Cox subpoenaed MySpace for a list of all Michigan sex offenders who maintained a MySpace user profile and today Cox is turning over the list to law enforcement agencies and making it available to the general public. 

            Cox also announced that his office has filed a motion against one person on that list, Edward Mitchell Mulak of Ferndale, urging a judge to find him in violation of his terms of probation by using MySpace.  Mulak was originally convicted of possessing child pornography in 2006 by the Attorney General's Child and Public Protection Unit.  The conditions of his probation prohibited Mulak from using a computer.

"Today should serve as a reminder to parents to continue to monitor the activities of their children on the Internet, as some registered sex offenders will continue to violate the law," said Cox.  "The message we send is clear: we expect strict compliance with the law and have zero tolerance for these offenders.  Today we have contacted the Michigan Department of Corrections and provided them with the necessary documentation to proceed on four of these individuals and call upon them to take swift action."

According to data obtained by Cox, there were 200 member profiles on MySpace who were also registered sex offenders here in Michigan (MySpace has since removed all these profiles from their site).  Of those 200, Cox determined that 28 of them are presently under the supervision of the Michigan Department of Corrections, either on probation or parole.  Four of them have terms of supervision that specifically prohibit their use of a computer or the Internet.

MySpace (www.myspace.com) is one of the most popular online social networking sites and claims to have more than 185,000,000 individual profiles.  A user profile is like a personal webpage that also allows for communication between members and the posting of photos and other personal information. 

Since its restructuring, Cox's Child and Public Protection Unit has arrested 138 Internet sexual predators.  Attorney General Cox encourages parents to visit www.michigan.gov/ag for tips on safe Internet usage for children.  Citizens can also report suspected Internet child predators via the Report Internet Abuses Against Children link, or by calling the Child and Public Protection Unit at (313) 456-0180.

- 30 -

Resources:

·        View List of Sex Offenders: http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739-170808--,00.html

·        Search Michigan Sex Registry: www.mipsor.state.mi.us

·        Internet Safety Tips: http://www.mi.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17334_17364-43082--,00.html