Internet sex crime With a lei in his hands and condoms in his pockets, Thomas M. Schnepper was awaiting the arrival of a 15-year-old girl at Kahului Airport when he was arrested by FBI agents last week, federal prosecutors said.
sting nabs Maui man
Kahului Airport is the site of a
man getting a surprise from the FBIBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comFor the past two months, according to prosecutors, the 37-year-old Lahaina man had communicated with the girl via the Internet, e-mailed her images of child pornography, and tried to convince her to visit him on Maui.
"He told her they could act out a rape fantasy when she arrived," U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said yesterday. "He further disclosed that in the past, he had had sex with a 13-year-old girl."
Unbeknownst to Schnepper, however, the girl he had been chatting with since Dec. 4, was actually an undercover FBI agent. The online sting operation involved a special agent of the Wyoming Attorney General's office posing as 15-year-old "Mandy Swanson" and working with local FBI, the U.S. Customs Service and the Hawaii Attorney General's office.
"Every parent should realize that criminals roam the Internet, just as they roam the streets," said Kubo. "The U.S. Attorney's office will aggressively prosecute Internet child molesters and child pornographers."
According to court documents, Schnepper e-mailed sexually explicit photos to "Mandy," including pictures of himself and of an underage girl having sex with an adult male.
Schnepper was charged yesterday in federal court for allegedly attempting to use the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Schnepper could face up to 15 years in prison. A pair of handcuffs were also recovered from Schnepper's jacket during his arrest.
Although the victim in this case was made up, state and federal law enforcement officials said the threat is real, and that such Internet crimes are increasing.
Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Mark McConnell, who is in charge of the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said that last week two teenage girls from Kauai got on a plane and flew to San Diego to meet a man they had met via the Internet.
"He represented himself to be a 17-year-old, he was actually a 22-year-old," said McConnell.
Though San Diego law enforcement officials met the teenagers at the airport, sent them back to Kauai and have the suspect in custody, McConnell said the fact that the girls had gotten that far shows the extent of the problem.
McConnell said Hawaii's physical isolation does not make it a safer place for Internet crimes. "I wouldn't say that the safety level here (in Hawaii) is any higher than anywhere else."
Kubo said while the Internet is a valuable tool for children, it can "also lead some of them right into the arms of pedophiles, whose only interest is to lure, molest and exploit children for their own sexual desires."
Parents are urged to log on to the ICAC task force Web site at www.hicac.com to learn more about Internet crimes and what to look out for. Parents can also log on to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site at www.cybertipline.com.