Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

WTF is up with LOST? If you're not watching it, skip to the next paragraph. If you are, you know what I'm talking about. The producers kept saying Paolo and Nikki were going to be "very important" to the LOST storyline. So WTF was this week's episode? It had nothing to do with anything and I sincerely feel they jumped the shark big time. And the show was getting so much better since it came back from hiatus. Next week's episode HAS got to be better or I'm going to be ticked off. Again. I can't go into my court appearance this week, as it is going to be appealed. Let's just say the evidence showed that the defendant was responsible. But because of the confusing wording the judge told the jury and a very confused question from the jury foreman, we lost. The jury had no clue. So it will be appealed. It also didn't help that the defendant's lawyer was very familiar with the courthouse and everyone there. I felt we didn't get a just and fair...

Finally! You can view them on our site . Enjoy and pass the word along! Jayne A. Hitchcock President, WHOA Working to Halt Online Abuse

This is last minute - they are taping the show this Wednesday. They do pay all expenses (airfare, hotel, etc). We are looking for compelling stories of people who were failed by the system, either from a scam, fraud, identity theft, false imprisonment, etc. We are hoping to find a story where there has been some sort of resolution. If anyone is interested, they can contact Erin at 1-800-987-5446 x317 - or directly at 212-830-0317.

The other day we had 60+ degree weather. I looked out on the deck and there was Sweetie! I was so excited to see one of the chipmunks! This means that Spring is definitely around the corner. I hope Chippy and Julian are okay and will be popping out soon. I had to fly to Springfield, Illinois last week to testify for the online dating bill there. It was written so that online dating web sites would put a disclosure on their "front" page whether or not they do background screenings (not background "checks" - the difference is that the latter is extensive, with fingerprints, SSNs, etc). If they don't do screenings, then they would put links to web sites that do them and leave it up to the person viewing their site as to whether they want to join or not. That was it. It should have passed. But it didn't. Because politicians suck. I really, really hate testifying for bills sometime. The representative who sponsored this bill was clueless. I met him the first nig...

TV Pilot Looking for Guests: Have you been the victim of an internet crime, but when you went to prosecute the person, you learned the laws don’t consider it a crime? Have you been the victim of internet defamation where someone posted photos or personal and/or false information about you without your consent? Are you involved in a dispute with someone and you’d like to settle the matter on a TV court show, instead of paying legal fees and attorney fees? Or, do you have a story that’s not listed that you’d like to share? If so, please email Stacy at blueshadow121212@yahoo.com (please write an email detailing the situation, and include your name and contact phone numbers)

Watch me on NHPTV this weekend - check your cable listings for the correct channel (although on most it's Channel 11), It's supposed to also be available on their web site. NH Talks: Internet Safety Airs Sunday, March 18 at 9:30 a.m. and Monday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. http://www.nhptv.org/outlook/ New Hampshire is among the states with the highest number of households with computers and most of those households have access to the Internet. What are the dangers and how do we keep our children safe online? We explore the issue with our guests: NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte; Det. James McLaughlin from the Keene Police Department; and Jayne Hitchcock, author and President of WHOA- Working to Halt Online Abuse.

Sunday afternoon the dogs and I headed to Norwell, MA, which turned out to be a two hour drive due to traffic. The library is very nice and in a beautiful wooded area, which was good, since I had to leave Bandit and Guin in the car. Lugged my books inside, met fellow authors, Margaret Press and Paul E. Doyle . She wrote a book about a murder that took place in Salem, MA, her hometown, A Scream On The Water and he wrote about his undercover experiences as a DEA Agent in Hot Shots and Heavy Hits . His book may be made into a TV series. I got signed books from both and gave them signed copies of mine. Such a deal! We had a good crowd, about 30-40 people. Margaret started off by introducing all of us, then we each talked about how we got into writing and what motivated us to write our latest books. Then it was Q&A time. Two hours went by very quickly! I sold 10 books, which was great and the library bought one as well and paid us each $100 for coming down. I was surprised at that. Mo...

Net Crimes Newsletter March 12, 2007 I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Hope you don't live in Texas House bill makes disclosure of Social Security numbers OK http://www.herald-coaster.com/articles/2007/03/06/news/news01.txt Despite an opinion to the contrary issued last month by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Texas House of Representatives Monday approved a bill that would allow county officials to release Social Security numbers under the Texas Public Information Act. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG! (DISCLAIMER: The following news items were found on the web and were not written or endorsed by WHO@; they are for informational purposes only) Extortionists, swindlers, ID thieves haunt Web, HPD vet says - 03/12/07 http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/12/news/story03.html Since his retirement Feb. 28 from the Honolulu Police Department, Chris Duque has kept busy talking to community groups and schools...

Friday was spent at NHTI in Concord, NH filming NH Outlook for NH Public Television. I met my mom and let her come with me to see what it's like to do one of these shows. There were two other people on the panel, NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and Det. James McLaughlin, who heads up the Internet Crimes Against Children dept at the Keene, NH Police Department. He's in my book. The host was Richard Auger, filling in for host Beth Carroll. It was a rousing discussion and will air Monday, March 18th and repeat on the 19th and will be available on the web site as well. Afterwards, mom and I had lunch, then I headed home to do errands. My computer's DVD/R needs to be replace, so I'll be using my laptop and Chris' computer a few more days. Friday night went to V2s to pick her and Sanna up to go to Mahalo's for their first comedy night. We were the first ones in, got a table up front and ordered some apps - a sampler platter. I guess V2 had had a few before we lef...

They say it's going to warm up tomorrow. When you can't wait to feel 30 degree weather, you know it's cold. It's been 2-3 degrees in the morning the last three days, plus the wind chill. Brrrrr. I didn't announce this before, but I have a "grief sponsor" (yeah, weird name). She's been wonderful. It's nice to talk to a third party who is not family or a friend. It's made me put things in perspective and realize that I have gone above and beyond for what I've done for others, but that some people forget that I also lost two loved ones and now it's time for me. Which is why I posted all that "me" stuff recently. She reassured me that I have done nothing wrong, I could not have stopped Chris from doing what he did, no matter what (I even talked to everyone he called that last day, except for the ones he talked to for 22 minutes just before he called me at the airport with his whacked out call. They don't need to be talked to. ...

If you read my earlier post, you would have seen I wasn't feeling so hot, but I was determined to do the show. Promptly at 10 pm, V-103 radio called me and told me it would be a few while the host, Joyce Littel, did her intro, then would play a couple of "soft jazz" tunes. Okay by me. So I listen and I'm looking at their web site and going through the on-air personalities and got quite a chuckle out of the whole thing. I was a little nervous and was hoping I wouldn't blow it by saying something stupid. Joyce came on, talked a bit about online dating, how people lie in their profiles, then introduced a local doctor (I think she was a psychiatrist) in the studio, then introduced me as "A.J. Hitchcock." Oh, we were off an running, LOL. The banter was quick and at first, I was hesitant, then I figured, "What the hell?" and went with it. I had them laughing a few times and the people who called in kept saying "that lady" (meaning me) was ...

I've been so darned busy, it's not funny. I was cleaning a bit downstairs and then came back up here to move some more things out of my office. I'm waiting for a friend, who's a contractor, to get back to me about converting the workshop into my office. I need to get that done first before I can do anything more upstairs. I also put a bunch of things on eBay and already some have sold with Buy It Now. It truly amazes me at how much some things go for on eBay and what people buy! Ran around town and down to Kittery wit the dogs on Saturday, errands from hell, ha ha. Went to The Lobster Barn with V2 for dinner and although the food was very good, the people at the bar were, to put it bluntly, a bit low brow. I know that makes me sound like a snob, but I don't care. I love hanging out with people and at the conferences and places I speak at, I hang out with a variety of people, but these folks scared even V2. And she's hard to scare (believe me, she's a new age...

I'm going to be interviewed tonight on radio station V-103 out of Atlanta, but you can listen to it live and call in. The show starts at 10 pm tonight and runs to midnight and they plan on having me on for the full two hours. I'll be talking with radio host Joyce Littel about online dating web sites, expectations and if there is a science to dating online and offline. Just go to the radio web site at 10 pm and click on the "Listen Live" button on the right top of the page. I'm not sure what the call-in number is, but I'm sure they'll say it on the air. Hope you can listen tonight! Jayne

Phone has been acting wacky all day. Caller ID sometimes works. Sometimes the phone rings. Then the Internet started acting wacky. Turns out TimeWarner (my ISP, cable and phone company) was having problems. Thank goodness I was able to reschedule my interviews for tomorrow. BTW, all I want to add is The Dresden Files .

Peter came and went - a nice surprise to find out he got married in December! I am so happy for him! I'm off the xanax and my blood pressure is down, probably due to the lack of drama the last two weeks. I am finally taking care of myself and my house, which I should have done before. I was worried too much about others and not worried about me, nor did they seem to be. Now it's "me" time. I am starting on my office, as my new couch and chair are coming this weekend and I need to put the sofa bed back in to use the office as a guest room for now. Next is starting to sell things on eBay, mostly collectible magazines and books stacked up in my office. It's actually starting to empty out in here, ha ha. After that, I'll work on getting things out of Chris' office so that I can finally move his computer and desk downstairs to use that as a production computer. This will be for copying CDs and DVDs to send out as samples in press kits and to potential speaking ...

WHO@ Newsletter February 26, 2007 I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .But it's kind of a good idea Heavy petting? Try this Dutch dating Web site http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070226/wr_nm/dutch_petdating_dc;_ylt=AlSAhoLZ8r4IZ6HoammPB_j6VbIF Looking for the love of your life? Does your pet put potential partners off? -- There is now a Web site where you can find a partner compatible with your dog, cat, snake or spider. A new Dutch Web site -- www.dier-en-mens.nl -- says it is a meeting place for all animal lovers, whether you are looking for a partner, someone who also likes snakes and spiders or someone who takes care of your chickens when you want to go away for the weekend. "How can you find a nice partner who is just as crazy about animals as you are?" said Betty Mercey on Sunday who launched the dating site this weekend which is called "Animal and Human." Members of the site can describe themselves and their pets, and when they think they have found so...

Got to the registration floor and stashed my bags, then visited the exhibit booths. Bought a t-shirt for my mom, a book for me, and visited the Psi Chi hospitality suite where they gave me a Psi Chi sweatshirt and a cute little harlequin New Orleans doll with a Psi Chi pin on it. We eventually went to lunch at the ACME Oyster House for the Psi Chi luncheon. There were about 30 of us. I got the chicken and andouille gumbo, which was delish, and pecan pie for dessert. Sandy and I walked back to the hotel to get my laptop set up for my talk. About 200 people ended up showing up for my talk and it went over very well. Although some did take order forms for my book and one woman ordered one on the spot, many were disappointed I didn't have any with me (I later got an apology email from my publisher about the whole thing). It's too bad, I could have sold all 20 I had asked to be sent, plus more! After my talk, went back to the hospitality suite to talk with some folks, then went to ...

Tuesday morning got my nails done, then had to drive almost two hours to pick my mom up. My nephew was home sick, so my sister couldn't bring her to meet me halfway. So Bandit and Guin came with me and I think Bandit panicked, thinking we were going on another road trip. I could almost hear his sigh of relief when we got to mom's house and he heard her get in the car, LOL. Got home, packed my suitcases for my trip to Nawlins, then took mom out to eat at Talpey's Tavern, one of the restaurants my neighbors co-own. We were seated in front of the fireplace. It was nice and cozy. I had eggplant parmesan, mom had scallops. It was very relaxing. Went back home, watched a very strange "thriller" called "The Hole" on HBO. I think it gave mom nightmares, ha ha. Got up the next morning, a new driver picked me up from the car service - drove right by the house. Oy. Got to the airport in Boston. The first leg of my US Airways flight went well, even though I had a m...

I always say that online stalkers and harassers are clever, but not smart. This proves my point: Revenge of the spam http://www.tbt.com/tampabay/news/article36149.ece Gregory Steven Hart lives behind black metal gates in a house full of computers, elegant sculptures and expensive liquor that he never drinks. Three days after Christmas, Deputy Sheriff Russell Hemmendinger hauled Hart to jail. The charges were driving with a suspended license and resisting arrest. The deputy took him down in the driveway of his $367,000 Lutz home, in front of his pregnant wife and neighbors. Hart posted bail and went home and got to work. Within 24 hours, the first concerned citizen e-mailed the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. From: tom and ray To: dtobin@pascosheriff.org Subject: Is Officer R. Hemmendinger Gay? Has Officer R. Hemmendinger ever had sex with a boy that's under the age of 16? ***** Hart is 43, a database developer for a massive health care corporation called Baxter International. He...

A large media outlet is considering a piece on pedophile predators and wanted to know of examples where convicted predators use online dating sites to date a single parent in order to gain access to and victimize a child. We have one example of this from Arizona. Have you or someone you know had something like this happen to you and would be willing to share your story either personally or as an anonymous submission? If so, email me at netcrimes@netcrimes.net ASAP or post a reply here. Jayne