Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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(AP) - A plan to banish convicted sex offenders from
social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook is moving through
the Minnesota House.

      The bill from Rep. Karla Bigham, DFL-Cottage Grove, would
prohibit sex offenders from using social sites that allow members
under the age of 18. It would also authorize probation agents to
search offender's computers and other online devices.

      Bigham's bill won unanimous approval in the House Public Safety
and Civil Justice Committee on Wednesday, although some lawmakers
questioned whether it could be more sweeping.

      "I'm going to support the bill, but I'd encourage expanding it
and banning the Internet use then, like New Jersey does," said
Rep. Chris DeLaForest, R-Andover.

      New Jersey last year banned Internet use for convicted sex
offenders who used a computer to commit their original sex crime.
The Minnesota proposal was pushed by the office of Attorney General
Lori Swanson.

      "Seem like every month we hear news stories about a sexual
assault of a child where the predator met the victim over the
Internet on a site like MySpace," deputy state attorney general
David Voigt told lawmakers.

      The proposal would not cover dating Web sites that take only
adult members, nor would it prevent sex offenders from creating
their own Web sites.

      Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, said he was also concerned about
the potential for predators to find victims through online gaming
sites.

      The bill's next stop is the House Public Safety Finance
Division.

Gallery

Who knows you on the Internet? Everyone!

Swanson joins call for names of sex offenders using MySpace

Cyberspace is latest frontier for sex offender registration

A plan to banish sex offenders from social
networking sites like MySpace and Facebook is moving through the Minnesota House.

Bill declares MySpace and the like off-limits to sex offenders

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