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Predator Who Used MySpace Gets Seven-Year Sentence

Texan arrived with handgun, rope restraints to meet 14-year-old girl

September 26, 2007 

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's Cyber Crimes Unit investigated and prosecuted Guadalupe "Wally" DeLaGarza, 27, for using the Internet to prey on children.

DeLaGarza was arrested in July 2006 when he arrived in Shenandoah with a handgun, rope restraints, condoms, and a digital camera to meet and sexually assault the young teen he targeted on the popular social networking Web site. The online profile actually belonged to an undercover Cyber Crimes Unit investigator.

MySpace and a similar site, Facebook, are currently the darlings of the Internet publishing world. Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $580 million two years ago and both Microsoft and Google are said to be angling for at least a minority share in Facebook.

"This dangerous sex predator used MySpace.com in an attempt to meet and sexually assault a 14-year-old girl," Abbott said. "Though this criminal is now behind bars, parents must stay vigilant and teach their children to safely use the Internet."

DeLaGarza pleaded guilty to attempted sexual performance by a child, a third-degree felony. Upon release, he will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. At the time of his arrest, DeLaGarza indicated he was a graduate student at Texas A&M University.

Cyber Crimes Unit investigators and Shenandoah Police Department officers arrested DeLaGarza during a joint undercover operation that yielded three other arrests of online sex predators.

Former church maintenance worker William Noel Shrum, 26, of The Woodlands, and Calvin Hoddy Hannah, Jr., 52, of Owasso, Okla., were both sentenced to four-year prison terms. Robert Wayne Ramirez, 41, of Needville, received a five-year prison sentenced after he used a laptop computer at a Houston truck stop to chat online with an undercover investigator before arriving in Shenandoah. Assistant Attorney General Angela Goodwin prosecuted the four cases.

Since 2003, the Cyber Crimes Unit and Fugitive Unit have arrested more than 600 sex predators. Prosecutors also have obtained convictions against more than 70 men on child pornography charges.

Facebook

Two state attorneys general say the popular networking site Facebook has "a long way to go" before they're satisfied it is adequately protecting children and young adults from sexual predators.

Earlier this week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed Facebook documents and revealed that his office has been conducting an undercover investigation of Facebook's security procedures.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper have been conducting a 50-state investigation into Facebook, which may become the target of a bidding war between Microsoft and Google. Facebook has stolen much of the limelight from Rupert Murdoch's MySpace, which has instituted a new database method of tracking sexual predators and blocking them from the site.

The New York probe has involved the use of undercover investigators posing as underage girls. Cuomo said the agents were repeatedly solicited by adult sexual predators on Facebook and could easily access a wide range of pornographic images and videos,

Cuomo also alleges that there are significant defects in the site’s safety controls and the company’s response to complaints - deficiencies that stand in contrast to the reassuring statements made on the website and by company officials.

“My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe website is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints,” Cuomo said. “Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a website that is aggressively marketed as safe.”

Online publishers like social networking sites because users esssentially provide free content. Also, users tend to stay on the sites for longer periods of time than other types of sites, enabling publishers to display more ads per visit.

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