Man busted in sex
assault caseThe alleged victim is a young girl
who was lured via the Internet
Police are seeking charges against a 27-year-old downtown Honolulu man who allegedly lured a 13-year-old girl to his apartment through the Internet and sexually assaulted her.
Police arrested the man at 9:30 p.m. Thursday for first-degree sexual assault, electronic enticement of a child and a drug offense.
Several months ago, the two met in an Internet chat room and communicated for several months before the alleged assault, said Detective Philip Lavarius.
Police said the girl went to the man's Nuuanu Avenue apartment where she was assaulted Thursday.
The girl told a parent about the alleged assault.
Police said the girl lives near the suspect in the downtown area and apparently went to his apartment willingly.
"It's a common occurrence with many teenagers," said Detective Philip Lavarius. "This is not a unique thing."
It did not appear he posed as a younger person, Lavarius said.
"They tend to trust the person they talk to for so long," he said.
Detectives are continuing to interview witnesses and must perform a forensic analysis of the computers used.
Honolulu Police Department Internet and computer expert Chris Duque said children often go online and initiate conversations with adults for cybersex with no intention of personally meeting anyone.
"Kids sometimes get over their heads, and the person on the other side may not be satisfied with talking," Duque said. But "if they don't know how to put people off and say no, they end up meeting."
Often predators pry personal information about the children between the sex chatting, and find out what school they attend or where they live, Duque said.
He warned that police have an online presence. Duque goes online posing as either an adult or child, male or female, and sometimes even as a pedophile, depending on the type of behavior he's seeking.
Duque doesn't recommend software programs or filters to parents concerned about their children's online activity, nor does he recommend taking a computer away.
"They'll go somewhere else," he said. "If it's forbidden, they'll find a way.
"I believe in communicating with the child, and education and supervision," he said. "It's more time-consuming, but it's much more long-lasting."
Duque often gives talks to adolescents to show them the risks and dangers of meeting people on the Internet.
He asks them how they know who they are really chatting with.
"They still haven't worked on the facade of anonymity," Duque said. "You can still hide yourself on the Internet."