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May 1, 2008 8:35 am US/Eastern
MySpace Predator Busted In S. Carolina
Lured Teenage Girl From California
HOLLYWOOD (CBS4) ―
A South Florida rapper wanted for molesting a 15-year old girl he lured from California to Hollywood could run, but he couldn't hide.
Ansen Brown, 32, was arrested in South Carolina on Wednesday after being picked up in Greenville during a traffic stop. Authorities say he's being held without bail and is refusing to sign an extradition waiver. It could be weeks before he's returned to Florida. Brown faces a sexual molestation charge.
On Brown's MySpace page he asks "who wants to be a porn star?" In the page's blog, offers to bring qualified women to Miami to meet with him. Police believe that's exactly what Brown had in mind when he brought a 15-year-old girl all the way from California.
"This is a 32-year-old adult male conversing with a 15-year-old juvenile from across the country," said Sgt. Manny Marino.
In documents CBS4 News obtained from police, they spell out every parent's fear: A 15-year-old girl seduced by a man half a world away in the secrecy of the internet. The teenager from California wanted a start in the hip-hop industry. She told police Brown allegedly offered that, and a plane ticket to Ft. Lauderdale. But when she arrived at his apartment, she says Brown molested her.
"This guy went out of his way to bring that juvenile from a long distance away, and who knows what his intentions were aside from any sexual activity, that he planned to involve this juvenile in," said Marino.
Police say the most important thing for parents to remember about cases like these is the internet is everywhere. It's not just at home. It's in your child's hand on their mobile home. It's at their friends' houses. So parents must be especially vigilant to figure out who their children are talking to and what they're talking about.
Police found the 15-year-old girl here and rescued her. They believe Brown may have intended to use the underage girl in a porno film.
In response to this incident, Attorney General Bill McCollum released the following statement on the importance of internet safety:
"Social networking sites can be a lot of fun for teens, but unfortunately, those sites can exploited for the purpose of finding and victimizing children. Kids post their hopes, their fears and dreams online, and internet child predators know how to take advantage of that. Teens need to be aware of that possibility, and parents should educate themselves about the internet to help their children use it safely."
Attorney General Bill McCollum
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