How Psychopaths View Their World

Most psychopaths are very arrogant and cocky. However, when charming a potential victim, they say all the "right" things and make you believe they are kind-hearted souls; not always, but often enough. The truth is, psychopaths are not altruistic and do not really care about friendships or ties. Guggenbuhl-Craig states that they are very talented at appearing much more humble than the average person, but are hardly so. Some are also able to feign concern about the lower classes and profess that they are on the side of the underdog, the poor, and so forth.


A psychopath may claim, for instance (if he's from a low socio-economic class), that he dislikes rich people intensely, but at the same time, he will inwardly yearn and envy what they have. He is like the narcissist, desiring to reflect a false image of himself through his possessions. Among his possessions are included human beings: girlfriends, wives, and children. Some psychopaths can even very fond of animals (contrary to the common viewpoint), but still view them as objects in relation to themselves.

The psychopath is filled with greed inside, relating to the world through power, even though, as I said, on the outside he can claim to be on the side of the disenfranchised or the downtrodden. I knew one who liked to repeat phrases such as "they have to stop keeping my brothers down" but he didn't mean a word of it. He was actually a racist. The psychopath can also often identify himself as a revolutionary.

On the flip side, the psychopath also often paints a picture of himself as the downcast anti-hero (his "own worst enemy type") and some like to see themselves as lone-wolves. The psychopath may even claim he is sensitive and profound, but inside he is nothing but emptiness and greed. Whether or not the psychopath is aware of his behaviour is something that is often debated. I do believe that psychopaths usually know exactly what they are doing, although others suggest that psychopaths are "born, not made." [1]

As mentioned, psychopaths often claim to settle for second best (being their own worst enemy) and then think they deserve better. This may be manifested in the way they seek power -- either through money (i.e. material goods), manipulation and/or treating people as objects. By enacting such behaviours, the psychopath is also trying to "get back" at society and the world, in order to gain retribution. They will spend their entire lives doing this, whether they are rich or poor, or whatever their social background may be, although studies have shown that they often come from an impoverished or lower socio- economic background and/or social status. (In one of Dr. Donald Black's studies, many of the men were "overwhelmingly white, blue collar, lower middle class, and married, and most had not graduated from high school." [Black, 14]). (Let me add, despite Dr. Blacks' studies, psychopaths can still exist in any social class. Do not be misled).

I also wanted to point out that I will be using "he" and "him" for the term psychopath throughout this website; let it not be forgotten, yes, female psychopaths exist as well; however, according to the Sixth Edition of Abnormal Behavior, printed in 2000 by three male professors, David, Derald, and Stanley Sue, the rates do differ by gender. Included in their excellent text is a report by the The American Psychiatric Association that the general estimate is 3% for men, and less than 1% in women [Personality Disorders and Impulse Control Disorders, 238].

What is very disturbing about psychopaths, besides their sense of special entitlement, is the complete lack of empathy for normal people, for "antisocials (psychopaths) seem to lack a conscience, feeling little or no empathy for the people whose lives they touch...the antisocial effortlessly resists all regulation, unable to see beyond his self-interest or to adopt standards of right versus wrong." [Black, XIII].

Not all psychopath are uneducated low-class misfits. Some of them are quite handsome and have good careers, and use this all the more to their benefit. Take a look at Ted Bundy; my friend's mother once went on a double-date with him and claimed he was the nicest person. His mother said he was the "best son any mother could have." Bundy was also apparently quite good-looking, which made him even more dangerous. So not all psychopaths are derelict, low-class, high school drop-outs, there are many who also work in professional occupations.

Also, not all psychopaths are calm, cool, and collected. Some of them appear strange or odd, and their behaviour can be eccentric or unusual. I believe this is what can confuse victims most often. Psychopaths often appear [see pictures here]: intense and "electrifying". Do not be misled if someone appears harmless, "foolish", or seems offbeat. An "angelic" visage can also often fool people. Just picture John Wayne Gacy in his "clown costume" as he entertained children as one example.

A psychopath (he was diagnosed anti-social) I knew used the harmless cover-up quite well. Everyone thought he was very funny. I did too, at first. Then, little by little, I realised there was something "not right" about him. At first his seemingly harmless pranks were charming, but after a while, he became more of a nuisance and disrupted our work environment, which created havoc and tension between employees. I've learned, a psychopath can use these disguises for his own hidden purpose.

Regardless of race, social class, or occupation, however, the psychopath is dangerous to society, for "the nature of ASP (psychopathy) implies that it wreaks more havoc on society than most other mental illnesses do, since the disorder primarily involves reactions against the social environment that drag other people into its destructive web...The despair and anxiety wrought by antisocials (psychopaths) tragically affects families and communities, leaving deep physical and emotional scars..." [Black, 5].

There is much to the psychopathic personality which is baffling and disturbing. 1 in about 25-30 people are psychopathic (also known as sociopaths or anti-social -- the correct title being psychopath.) Since the majority or them are men, I wrote this site in part, to warn women about the dangers, especially women online, which I believe is a favourite "new medium" which appeals to psychopaths. I have personal experience with this subject as well. This is because "antisocials (psychopaths) are not just characters in our fictional or true-life entertainments. They are family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, or strangers we may encounter every day." [Black, 10].

Pamela Jayne, M.A., writes that "30% of men are sociopathic." If about every three out of ten men I may meet are psychopathic, I would assume this is not something to take lightly. According to these statistics, that would mean every three out of ten men and maybe every one out of ten females. The truth is, we do not really know exactly how many individuals are psychopathic; however, there seems to be a rise in the prevalence of psychopathy and that is why some claim that numbers are higher. Dr. Black claims that psychopathy leads right behind depression, along with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder, which is an astounding fact.

How to Avoid a Broken (Online) Heart

Here are some red flags that might indicate an online "romance" may be nothing more than an attempt to steal your money:

• You've never met face to face with your online suitor.

• They profess love immediately, often within 24 to 48 hours. They claim fate or God brought you together.

• They quickly use terms of endearment: "sweetie," "hon," "baby, " etc. (they can't remember your real name)

• On a social networking or dating site, their profile photo disappears soon after making contact and they prefer chatting by instant messaging. If they chat with you by webcam, theirs never seems to work.

• Their emails use bad grammar, poor spelling and the pronoun "i" instead of "I." They often misspell the name of their supposed hometown and don't know any local landmarks.

• They misunderstand typical American slang, such as "night owl" or "poker face."

• They quickly send small gifts (teddy bears, chocolate, flowers), often purchased with stolen credit cards or unwittingly by other victims being scammed.

• When asked a question they can't answer, they go offline to look up a response, always claiming they had a phone call or needed a bathroom break.

• They claim to be well-paid professionals in another U.S. city but traveling overseas for work assignments (engineering, mining, solar power, construction, etc.).

• They often say they've lost a spouse, child or other family member in a horrible accident or have seriously ill family members.

• They repeatedly request financial help for varied, urgent reasons: airline tickets to visit you; hospital bills after a car accident; difficulty accessing their bank account while traveling; need for shipping, customs fees, etc. for work assignments; family members require emergency surgery.

• They always have a new story for why repayments don't arrive.

• After an online absence, they call you by a different name, an indication they're working several victims at once.

• If caught in an inconsistency, they always have a cover-up (e.g., someone else used their computer to talk with you) or suggest you don't trust them.

• They insist you keep the relationship secret until they come to live with you.

___________________________

• For victims seeking support, go to www.RomanceScams.org, an online nonprofit started in 2005 to raise awareness and offer peer counseling.

original article here

Another Online "Love" Connection Turns Ugly

By NBC10 Investigators

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

Kristy Gaffney says she thought she’d found love when she met a man online. Now the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania woman claims she’s in the battle of her life – fighting for the child they had.

“I thought like he was Mr. Perfect, ha, ha,” Gaffney told NBC10 Investigator Harry Hairston. “There’s no words for it. I’m just so angry at him.”

Gaffney says she met a man who told her he was Ed while surfing a popular dating website. The single mother, who is 29, says at first she was standoffish, but eventually warmed up to meeting him at a public place. Gaffney says that first date was at a restaurant just outside of Philadelphia and it led to many more dates and an intimate relationship.

Gaffney says her new love interest told her he was a businessman, divorced, worked for the C.I.A. and was related to one of the most well-known, wealthiest families in the country.

“He said, ‘My last name is Dupont,’ and I’m like, okay. And I said, ‘related to the Duponts?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’” Gaffney says eventually Ed started talking about wedding bells. “He also was talking about having kids. He said he never could have kids because him and his wife, she couldn’t get pregnant,” Gaffney says.

As their relationship continued, Gaffney got pregnant. She says at first Ed demanded she get an abortion and then changed his mind. After the baby was born, Gaffney says Ed asked her to sign some papers that would ensure he could claim his rights as the baby’s father. Gaffney says although she didn’t understand the paperwork, she signed it anyway and the two shared caring for the baby while Ed rehabbed his home so they could all live together as a family.

One day, Ed didn’t return their child as planned. Instead, Gaffney says he dropped this bombshell:

“That’s when he told me that the paperwork I actually signed was me giving up the rights, not to him to have his rights. It was me giving up my rights so his wife could adopt my baby, and I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

As it turned out, Ed wasn’t Ed Dupont. He was Emmitt Dippold, who was still married and he and his wife were in the final stages of adopting the baby.

“I couldn’t even believe that someone was capable of something like that,” Gaffney says. She took Dippold and his wife to court to get the adoption overturned.

We reached out to Dippold at his office and his home for his side of the story, but were not able to speak with him. In court documents, Dippold denied that he ever claimed to be a Dupont and says Gaffney may have assumed that because his email reads ‘ew-dupont.’ Dippold denied that he ever wanted Gaffney to have an abortion and denied that he ever talk about marriage. He said Gaffney should have known all along that he was married because pictures of he and his wife were in plain view the times he and Gaffney were in his home together.

In the end, the Judge believed Gaffney and overturned the adoption based on fraud. But the fight isn’t over because the Dippolds filed an appeal. Dippold’s attorney declined comment for our story, saying it’s inappropriate to talk about pending custody and adoption matters.

original article here

A Cyberpath's View of the World

excerpted from this great, must read site! CLICK HERE:

A Cyberpath/ Narcissist is like a vampire who drains the emotional and even physical energy out of those close to him. He identifies and cultivates his prey, using them as a source of supply to feed his never-ending egotistical needs.



Should his source not be good enough, he will dump it and can cut people off in an instant without a second thought. If he believes that the source has potential to be a good one, he will however nurture it and cultivate it carefully. This is where his charming mask comes into play.

Everyone is a source of supply to him and he cultivates this in everyone that he encounters and deals with. Those closest to him are however given the special honour of being his greatest source of narcissistic supply and will be severely punished if they falter at all.

From his family in particular the cyberpath/ narcissist demands unquestioning obedience, unwavering belief in him, complete subjugation to his whims and needs and perpetual attention.

There is another aspect to this however. The cyberpath/ narcissist does not only feed off adoration and gratitude, but on negative emotion as well. You are his mirror and as long as you are reflecting (reacting), his needs are being fed.

Often he will go out of his way to provoke a negative reaction purely so that he can get some sort of "power feed".

Remember that the mirror he is looking into is not made of glass, but of water. It is constantly moving and rippling. It is vibrant and alive. This activity seems to be a key factor for the cyberpath/ narcissist, as if it in itself validates him and makes him more real and less illusion.

When the waters get too calm and there is not enough movement, he will toss a pebble in and create some ripples just to get things going again. It gives him an enormous sense of power to know that he can so easily evoke reactions in his victims.

Even after he's been exposed he loves pushing his "false version" of events just to upset his victim.

It often seems as if the cyberpath/ narcissist is just plain bored when there isn't some drama around to feed him and, when all else fails, he will whip up a quick batch out of nothing. He will provoke you, taunt you, beat you, berate you - whatever it takes. Once you have given him sufficient response, he will finally sit back satisfied, in the same way that you or I may sit back in mellow pleasure after a good meal.

This is exactly what his dramas are to him. A good meal.

In this same vein, cyberpath/ narcissists love a good accident, a good disaster or a really juicy crisis. It doesn't matter whether it involves them or not. As long as they know about it they will make it about themselves in one way or another, wringing out of it every drop of sympathy or admiration that they possibly can.

They also love success stories, especially their own. They in fact have hundreds of success stories at hand with which to impress and win admiration. It may not be their story, but that's beside the point. Somehow they will make it theirs and if it actually belongs to someone close to them, you can be sure that they are the sole reason for that person's success.

An extremely difficult issue to come to terms with when you discover that your Cyberpath is a narcissist, is the awful, gut-wrenching realisation that this person has never loved you. They do not love, period. The only concept of love that they possess is the realization that it matters to the rest of us and it is therefore something that they can use. A weapon in their well-stocked arsenal.

To the abuser you are no more than an object for self-gratification. Like a desk or a chair. Sex with you is merely sex with a 'blow-up doll with a pulse.' You have no individual identity, which is why they get so enraged when you act as if you do. Your thoughts, your feelings, your behaviors are meant to exist and be employed for one purpose only - to make the narcissist look good and feel satisfied.

This is why he is so hell-bent on controlling every aspect of you and your life. - In his view of the world, it all belongs to him.

He is a demi-god. He believes that he can destroy you. This creative power of his applies to every aspect of everyone in his life. Without him you would be nothing and it frustrates him enormously when you refuse to realize this and grovel in gratitude that he even bothered to pay attention to you.

If you have a narcissistic Cyberpath in your life, please come to terms with the fact that you are not going to change him or her. The potential that you are clinging to is an illusion, the nice guy that you sometimes see is a manipulative mask, the dream of happy ever after is a pipe dream and the concept of love overcoming all is delusional. For love to have power, it has to exist in the first place. With a Cyberpath it doesn't and there is about a 99.9% chance that it never will.

If you think that your love for them can overcome on its own, you are engaged in magical thinking. These people are unreachable because they choose to be and it is a choice that nothing you do or feel can ever change.

Probably the most important thing to remember with a Cyberpath is that you will never win. They are beyond being rational, they do not listen to anyone else unless it is about them and when they do catch the odd thing that you have said they will normally distort it and use it against you at some stage.

Never ever show any weakness with them because they will store it away - for a lifetime if necessary - and use it against you (or someone else) some day. They go for the jugular because that is the quickest access point to maximum blood and this is exactly what they are after - your very life blood.

(though this article was written in the masculine, your Cyberpath may be female.)

Study Shows Over 30% of Internet Dating Site Users are Married

Study Shows Over 30% of Internet Dating Site Users are Married

Newly launched PrivateDateFinder.com is the first and only dating site where you can find romance without anyone else knowing. The site offers a unique way to conceal both how you pay as well as eliminating all the tracks you leave behind. The result is confidential purchases and the comfort of knowing your activities remain private.

(Monarch Bay, CA.) – First Privacy Financial, LLC. announces the launch of www.PrivateDateFinder.com, the first and only dating site where you can find romance without anyone else knowing. The site offers a unique way to conceal both how you pay as well as eliminating all the tracks you leave behind. The result is confidential purchases and the comfort of knowing your activities remain private.

Research shows that over 30% of existing online date site members are either married or in relationships. However, no one has addressed this large segment who desire real privacy or those who never used online dating simply because they didn't want anyone else knowing. They simply do not want to get caught.

Jerry Klein, President / CEO of the First Privacy Financial said; “Private Date Finder offers a real solution to those who simply do not want anyone else to know they are using a dating site. In a USA Today poll an overwhelming 88% of respondents said they are concerned about their privacy and consider protecting it important. Now you can safely buy anything online and no one will know."

Private Date Finder includes free membership in EverPrivate, a proprietary patent pending web-based service that erases all your tracks from any PC without any downloaded software. Also included is a free prepaid PrivaCash MasterCard, a virtual Debit card issued instantly online that can be re-loaded at 35,000 retail locations.

Mr. Klein said; “We have partnered with Relationship Exchange to enable our members to have access to over 2 million existing online dating members from sites under their management. This provides Private Date Finder members a huge number of romance partners wherever they live, right from our launch. Sign-up is free and the EverPrivate features are available instantly.”

(Why let a little thing like being married interfere with your dating?? - EOPC)

The 'E-lationship'

(Sounds like Dan Jacoby, Doug Beckstead, Jeff Dunetz, Glen Capers and Brad Dorsky! using decent women like free cyberwhores, and lying about it! - EOPC)

These suitors aren't interested in a real-life hookup, just the virtual kind
By Diane Mapes

When it comes to online dating, we’ve come to expect deception, the posting of decades-old pictures and blatant lies about marital status, height, hair (or lack thereof). We’ve learned to deal with people who dematerialize after a few days or weeks of steady contact. “It’s the online equivalent of ‘going out for cigarettes,’ ” says one seasoned single.

Now, there’s a new online annoyance — the person who doesn’t want to meet but is all too happy to e-mail, text, tweet, IM, or scrawl on your Facebook wall indefinitely. They don’t want a real relationship as much as its virtual doppelganger.

Welcome to the world of the “elationship.”

“I’ve been involved in five or six of these,” says Rich Giorgi, a 48-year-old tech writer from Carrboro, N.C., who in recent months found a “peach” of a girlfriend and left the online scene. “One woman was always popping up on chat programs — ‘What are you doing? Where you have been?’ This went on for a month and then I proposed we meet. But she was always busy. So I called her on it and? she said, ‘I’m getting what I need out of this. There’s no need to go any further.’ So I cut it off. I didn’t have the time to waste.”

Harem scarem
Why would someone spend all that time communicating with a person they never planned to meet? Giorgi says he thinks some just like to collect “cyber-harems.”

“I have a friend who’s on a dating site and I can see that a lot of the people from the site have started following her on Facebook,” he says. “She has 12 to 15 guys all commenting on her posts and looking to get with her but she’s only interested in the attention. She’s told me plainly that she’s not interested in meeting anybody, she just wants to feel like people want her every now and then.”

Jennifer Worick, author of “The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Dating & Sex,” says people do have different agendas when it comes to dating.

“For me, the end goal is to be in a loving relationship with someone,” she says. “But for others, the end goal might be that they’re passing time, preventing boredom or just collecting men and women.”

Deception — people pretending to be something they’re not (whether it’s single or a certain gender) — can be another reason relationships stay in the virtual realm, says Patricia Wallace, psychologist and senior director of information technology at Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth in Maryland.

Another big factor: fear.

“There’s the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of making a fool of yourself,” she says. “An online relationship is perceived as being lower risk as compared to meeting in person. When you pick up the phone or meet in person, you have a lot less control over your message and your impression as compared to a Facebook wall post or an IM where you can rewrite and think about what you want to say.”

Having more control means having the ability to create a better version of you, she says, which can then be marketed to a better version of someone else.

“A woman might feel really smart and attractive when she’s online because she comes up with a lot of witty things to say, she controls the pictures that she sends and she meets a man who does the exact same thing,” says Wallace, author of “The Psychology of the Internet.” “They can have a magical interaction — a meeting of the minds, sort of — whereas meeting in person would just spoil it. He stutters; she burps.”

Long-term elationships
Incredibly, some virtual relationships last as long as the real thing.

In 2007, Elaine LaPersonerie, a 33-year-old PR maven from Manhattan, answered a Craigslist ad that kicked off an intense year-long elationship.

“At first, he made all kinds of excuses for not meeting,” she says. “The first date it was the stomach flu and then it was everything from a missed flight to a last-minute meeting to his uncle dying to getting lost to falling asleep.”

LaPersonerie says she knew something was hinky within three weeks, but became intrigued — both with the guy (there was a definite click when they talked on the phone) and with his elusive nature.

“We only corresponded via phone or IM or whatever, but he really knew who I was,” she says. “He got under my skin even though I knew something was wrong. I wanted to figure it out.”

World-class liar
What she eventually figured out was that her online admirer was a world-class liar. Although he told her he lived in New York City and would often reference weather or traffic problems as excuses why he couldn’t connect (“He’d call and say, ‘It’s raining so bad, I can’t get a taxi, things that were relevant to where I was”), he actually lived in London. LaPersonerie also discovered that an “ex-fiance” he frequently mentioned was actually another online girlfriend who, just like her, had never laid eyes on the guy.

After 12 months of e-mails, excuses, lies and late-night phone calls (all on his dime), she finally pulled the plug.

“I confronted him and he admitted he’d lied,” she says. “He said he’d put his ad up on Craigslist as kind of a spoof — he wanted to see what it was about — and never thought anything would come of it. Then he started developing real feelings for me but had spun the web of lies so big, he couldn’t get out of it. But who knows what was going on.”

LaPersonerie says she still hasn’t decided if the guy is a pathological liar or “a regular person that had a bet with a friend,” but there’s no doubt she’s come to appreciate the power of a virtual relationship.

“I’m an attractive, successful woman from a good family with great values and amazing friends,” she says. “I definitely fit into a demographic of someone you would never think could fall victim to this. But I did. And it was easy. With online dating and e-mails and texting, you can take things to a point where you still feel like you are ‘dating’ and getting attention without having to deal with all the rest. In some cases, that fantasy relationship can exist for a long time.”

The power of a pen pal
Even Worick admits she’s had online encounters that have played out like mini-relationships: a bit of flirtation, followed by some miscommunication, followed by a spat, followed by a split.

“With one guy I ‘met’ on Match.com, it was like we were playing out the whole beginning, middle and end of a relationship via text when we’d never even talked on the phone,” she says. “First he e-mails, then he begins texting all day. Then he’s guilting me out for not being available when he calls. Then I don’t hear from him for a week. Then he’s back and wants to know if there’s anything new in my personal life. Then he starts playing the hurt puppy and sending passive-aggressive texts. I finally texted him and said, ‘I think we’re having a miscommunication.’ ”

According to psychologist Patricia Wallace, e-lationships can be troublesome because of the opportunity for deception and the false sense of intimacy (“You don’t have those salient cues that would tell you to put on the brakes so you’re more intimate than you should be.”)

But that doesn’t mean they’re all bad.

“I think for some people, that kind of relationship could be quite fulfilling in itself,” she says. “We’ve always had pen pals. In the old days, they could be very meaningful.”

The key is that both parties need to be on the same page.

“Some people are looking for a spouse, some people are just looking for novelty,” she says. “They never want to meet, or at least one of them doesn’t want to meet. There’s the rub. But it’s not unheard of in the face-to-face world that one party has a longer-time commitment in mind than the other.”

What can singles do to separate the relationship wheat from the casually-minded chaff? Worick points to boundaries.

“It’s good to set up guidelines,” she says. “I think people should cut to the chase and get together as soon as possible. I also think they should communicate their preferences. Say, ‘Look, I would prefer not to text during the day but I’m happy to talk on the phone or get together.’”

Finally, she suggests singles take a long look at their own dating agenda, which can shift over time.

“You have to assess what you want out of it, too,” she says, “There have been times in my life where I’m really busy or not feeling particularly good about myself and texting and IMing is a temporary Band-Aid. It’s not a long-lasting solution, but it can give you a little sparkle temporarily.”

Diane Mapes is a Seattle freelance writer

original article here

Spotting the Internet Liar

How can you spot a liar online? Some telltale signs of online deception from Cornell professor of Communication -- Jeff Hancock.

LISTEN NOW

Duped on Muslim Matchmaking Site

Every year, according to the New York Times, some 20 million Americans seek love or relationships through matchmaking websites.

Many succeed. You can tailor a search to particular interests, and short-circuit fruitless dates.

But there's also that unknown element about the person one meets in a vacuum, without a community to vouch for him or her. The Dec. 18 Times story told of the dangers of ending up with a sexual predator, a convicted felon or someone who's already married.

Sherri Abdelmawgoud, now of Urbandale, is learning about online matchmaking the hard way. "
The person I thought he was never existed," she said this week of her husband.

Sherri Welch met Ahmed Abdelmawgoud through a dating site two years ago, when she was 28 and he was 26, as she recalls. She was living in Las Vegas, where he said he was visiting a friend, having been in America a few months with plans to get his master's in mechanical engineering.

Her Egyptian Prince Charming was handsome, playful, attentive and won the hearts of all her
relatives. She liked the old-fashioned image he projected — a devout Muslim virgin who didn't
believe in holding hands before marriage. Three months later they wed in a Muslim ceremony in
Texas where Sherri followed her parents to live.

She converted to Islam, and began wearing a head scarf, as some Muslim women do. Ahmed got hired at a computer repair shop and enrolled in a university. "I was blinded by love," she says, "and he was a very charismatic guy. "

Sherri says they were working on starting a family when, back in Texas a month ago, her eyes fell
upon his open e-mails. There were love notes to and from another woman, and something that
looked like a marriage certificate.

It was in Arabic, but had pictures of him and a woman, and fingerprints. When Sherri confronted Ahmed, he shrugged off the other woman as an obsessed ex-girlfriend. Unconvinced, Sherri e-
mailed her.

What she got in return, she says, made her feel "like I died that day." It was a studio photo of a glamorous woman in what looks like a Western bridal gown, stretched out on Sherri's husband's
knee.

Based on subsequent e-mails and instant messages, Sherri says the woman, identified as Dalia, lives in Egypt and told her she's been married to Ahmed five years. Sherri says Ahmed would neither confirm nor deny the marriage when she questioned him, instead packing up all his belongings and saying he was flying to Egypt to be with his dying father. He quit work, missed final exams and drained their bank account, Sherri says.

In a phone interview Tuesday from Texas, Ahmed denied Sherri's allegation that he's married to Dalia, telling me, "I am having problems with my wife ... I will prove to my wife it's not true." Reached in Egypt later, Dalia denied to me that she and Ahmed are married. But Sherri says she found a Facebook page of Dalia's — since removed — naming Ahmed as her husband, with pictures.

The ironies are hard to miss. While Ahmed wanted his American wife to stay home and care for the house, the Egyptian woman is a self-described professional. In the picture she sent Sherri, there was no Muslim head covering, either.

In retrospect, Sherri sees things she might have questioned more. She never met any of Ahmed's friends. She never spoke to his parents in Egypt; he told her they disapproved because she wasn't Egyptian. In June, he left for 40 days, claiming he needed to take his father to Spain for cancer surgery. He rarely contacted Sherri in that period. Dalia told her she was with him in Spain, and that his father never had cancer.

Sherri showed me e-mails sent from Dalia this month. In one, Dalia said Ahmed is with her all the time and denies everything Sherri said. Ahmed called Sherri from Egypt this month and told her he never loved her. "I think he loved me in some way," Sherri says, but wonders. "I don't understand how a person can look at you every day and (act) so sincere. I could never do that to somebody, even if I hated them."

Asked why she thinks Ahmed married her, Sherri shrugs. To get a visa? He did, though it could be revoked if the government finds it was fraudulently obtained. To have someone cook and clean for him? Did he just get lonely? One thing Sherri insists is that his Muslim faith not be blamed.

Sherri turns 30 today, but the big celebration her husband had promised won't take place. She has no income, job or car, and can't afford a divorce lawyer or name change. She fears the Ahmed she didn't know, cries a lot, and wonders how she can trust again.

New York and New Jersey require matchmaker sites to post safety tips. But Sherri already knew to take precautions like meeting in public places.

Her experience is a painful reminder that even with criminal background checks, which all such sites should be required to perform, trust cannot be given unconditionally. The cliche taught to journalists is true for everyone in the Internet age: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

original article here

Duped on Muslim Matchmaking Site

Every year, according to the New York Times, some 20 million Americans seek love or relationships through matchmaking websites.

Many succeed. You can tailor a search to particular interests, and short-circuit fruitless dates.

But there's also that unknown element about the person one meets in a vacuum, without a community to vouch for him or her. The Dec. 18 Times story told of the dangers of ending up with a sexual predator, a convicted felon or someone who's already married.

Sherri Abdelmawgoud, now of Urbandale, is learning about online matchmaking the hard way. "
The person I thought he was never existed," she said this week of her husband.

Sherri Welch met Ahmed Abdelmawgoud through a dating site two years ago, when she was 28 and he was 26, as she recalls. She was living in Las Vegas, where he said he was visiting a friend, having been in America a few months with plans to get his master's in mechanical engineering.

Her Egyptian Prince Charming was handsome, playful, attentive and won the hearts of all her
relatives. She liked the old-fashioned image he projected — a devout Muslim virgin who didn't
believe in holding hands before marriage. Three months later they wed in a Muslim ceremony in
Texas where Sherri followed her parents to live.

She converted to Islam, and began wearing a head scarf, as some Muslim women do. Ahmed got hired at a computer repair shop and enrolled in a university. "I was blinded by love," she says, "and he was a very charismatic guy. "

Sherri says they were working on starting a family when, back in Texas a month ago, her eyes fell
upon his open e-mails. There were love notes to and from another woman, and something that
looked like a marriage certificate.

It was in Arabic, but had pictures of him and a woman, and fingerprints. When Sherri confronted Ahmed, he shrugged off the other woman as an obsessed ex-girlfriend. Unconvinced, Sherri e-
mailed her.

What she got in return, she says, made her feel "like I died that day." It was a studio photo of a glamorous woman in what looks like a Western bridal gown, stretched out on Sherri's husband's
knee.

Based on subsequent e-mails and instant messages, Sherri says the woman, identified as Dalia, lives in Egypt and told her she's been married to Ahmed five years. Sherri says Ahmed would neither confirm nor deny the marriage when she questioned him, instead packing up all his belongings and saying he was flying to Egypt to be with his dying father. He quit work, missed final exams and drained their bank account, Sherri says.

In a phone interview Tuesday from Texas, Ahmed denied Sherri's allegation that he's married to Dalia, telling me, "I am having problems with my wife ... I will prove to my wife it's not true." Reached in Egypt later, Dalia denied to me that she and Ahmed are married. But Sherri says she found a Facebook page of Dalia's — since removed — naming Ahmed as her husband, with pictures.

The ironies are hard to miss. While Ahmed wanted his American wife to stay home and care for the house, the Egyptian woman is a self-described professional. In the picture she sent Sherri, there was no Muslim head covering, either.

In retrospect, Sherri sees things she might have questioned more. She never met any of Ahmed's friends. She never spoke to his parents in Egypt; he told her they disapproved because she wasn't Egyptian. In June, he left for 40 days, claiming he needed to take his father to Spain for cancer surgery. He rarely contacted Sherri in that period. Dalia told her she was with him in Spain, and that his father never had cancer.

Sherri showed me e-mails sent from Dalia this month. In one, Dalia said Ahmed is with her all the time and denies everything Sherri said. Ahmed called Sherri from Egypt this month and told her he never loved her. "I think he loved me in some way," Sherri says, but wonders. "I don't understand how a person can look at you every day and (act) so sincere. I could never do that to somebody, even if I hated them."

Asked why she thinks Ahmed married her, Sherri shrugs. To get a visa? He did, though it could be revoked if the government finds it was fraudulently obtained. To have someone cook and clean for him? Did he just get lonely? One thing Sherri insists is that his Muslim faith not be blamed.

Sherri turns 30 today, but the big celebration her husband had promised won't take place. She has no income, job or car, and can't afford a divorce lawyer or name change. She fears the Ahmed she didn't know, cries a lot, and wonders how she can trust again.

New York and New Jersey require matchmaker sites to post safety tips. But Sherri already knew to take precautions like meeting in public places.

Her experience is a painful reminder that even with criminal background checks, which all such sites should be required to perform, trust cannot be given unconditionally. The cliche taught to journalists is true for everyone in the Internet age: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

original article here

Match.com Grifter to be Charged with Grand Larceny

(yet more reasons to NOT USE Online Dating EVER. Sound familiar members? - EOPC)

By ANDREA PEYSER

An East Village, NYC Romeo who passed himself off as a globetrotting NFL exec is accused of ripping off a beautiful, love-struck divorcee to the tune of a quarter-million dollars.

As he allegedly fleeced her and at least one other woman while posing as an accomplished 40-year-old winner, accused con man John Egan was, in reality, a fat, prematurely gray, 32-year-old sports nut and professional loser who lived with his parents on Avenue C, compulsively trolling the Web.

Now, Egan is the subject of a Manhattan District Attorney's Office investigation. The DA plans to seat a grand jury early next month on grand-larceny charges, said a law-enforcement source.

For beautiful Thea Miller, it may be too late. The San Francisco divorcee claims she was financially ruined and emotionally devastated by the beguiling grifter she met online.

"I was naive," Thea admitted.

Over a period of months starting in 2007, Egan is accused of running up Miller's credit-card bill to nearly $250,000, spending tens of thousands on sports tickets, including Mets-vs.-Yankees ducats from Razorgator.com.

He also allegedly bought up more than $80,000 in sports memorabilia, including baseballs, bats and gloves signed by Derek Jeter, a $1,799.99 Michael Jordan Team USA jersey, and a $1,149.99 Tiger Woods photo from the 1997 Masters Tournament, from Steiner Sports.

That's not to mention two diamond rings and a pair of sapphire earrings from Tiffany's, cases of wine and pricey meals.

All of the items were shipped to his parents' address -- with him often paying an extra $25 for rush shipment.

Yet, bizarrely, Miller and Egan never met in the flesh.

For two years, Egan sent e-mails and text messages -- but no photos -- to Miller, sometimes also calling her 10 times a day. He promised to take her to Giants football games and charity events. Each time, he'd abruptly cancel their date, claiming his mother was sick or he had a business emergency.

"He charmed me," said Miller, now 52, who sells high-end real estate. "He said he loved his mother, grew up in a big Catholic family. He was very sweet. I figured I'd meet him when I'd meet him. I wasn't in a hurry.

"I was falling in love."

Now, Miller is paying for it. She has had to sell her house and pull her teenage son from private school to make ends meet. She peddled some valuable antiques and moved into an apartment, struggling to pay off the massive debt she incurred, allegedly thanks to Egan.

Her lawyer, Michael Galluzzi, this year filed a civil lawsuit against Egan in Manhattan Supreme Court. When the defendant failed to show up for his court date, Miller was granted a default judgment of $300,000, plus another $300,000 for future losses. The money remains uncollected.

It all started, innocently enough, with an online ad.

Miller's girlfriends, wanting to help her out after she became single again, put together a profile, then posted it on match.com.

Soon, she was contacted via e-mail by the man she thought she'd been waiting for.

Egan told Miller he was 40, lived in Manhattan and traveled extensively for his job in game-day operations with the NFL. He said he liked older women.

After a while, Egan told Miller he had a problem with his credit card. Saying he was determined to buy a birthday dinner for his mom, Pauline, he allegedly asked Miller for her American Express card number. She gave it to him, but then he called again, allegedly saying some places don't take AmEx; could he have another card?

Trustingly, stupidly, she gave Egan her card numbers, she said. He promised to repay her.

When she got the bills, Miller was floored.

She demanded that Egan repay her, but he just strung her along for months, she said. Via Federal Express, he sent $10,000 in checks, which allegedly bounced. He allegedly gave Tiffany's and Steiner Sports bank-account numbers, which were bogus.

Finally, Miller threatened to call authorities. She said he threatened her back.

"I know where you live," she said he texted. "I know where your snotty-brat kid lives."

"I was devastated," Miller said. "I cried for weeks."

Last week, a man who was identified by Egan's father and a pal as John Egan was outside his parents' Avenue C apartment, driving a BMW registered to his dad, Patrick. The man gave his name as "James."

One pal said Egan got married three or four years ago.

This was a surprise to Yolanda Castaneda, 41, also from San Francisco.

She said she met Egan on match.com, where he claimed to be an agent for the Yankees and Jets, but never met him. He did send her photos -- although they were from 15 years ago, when he was much slimmer and minus the gray hair.

But Castaneda was luckier than Miller.

She quickly got suspicious when she saw Egan was on match.com day and night, and cut him off sooner.

Castaneda won a default 2007 small-claims-court judgment of $6,065 against Egan, after she shipped him wine that he said was for his parents' anniversary party.

Egan did not return cellphone messages. His parents refused comment.

Match.com did not respond to a message.

original article here

Match.com Grifter to be Charged with Grand Larceny

(yet more reasons to NOT USE Online Dating EVER. Sound familiar members? - EOPC)

By ANDREA PEYSER

An East Village, NYC Romeo who passed himself off as a globetrotting NFL exec is accused of ripping off a beautiful, love-struck divorcee to the tune of a quarter-million dollars.

As he allegedly fleeced her and at least one other woman while posing as an accomplished 40-year-old winner, accused con man John Egan was, in reality, a fat, prematurely gray, 32-year-old sports nut and professional loser who lived with his parents on Avenue C, compulsively trolling the Web.

Now, Egan is the subject of a Manhattan District Attorney's Office investigation. The DA plans to seat a grand jury early next month on grand-larceny charges, said a law-enforcement source.

For beautiful Thea Miller, it may be too late. The San Francisco divorcee claims she was financially ruined and emotionally devastated by the beguiling grifter she met online.

"I was naive," Thea admitted.

Over a period of months starting in 2007, Egan is accused of running up Miller's credit-card bill to nearly $250,000, spending tens of thousands on sports tickets, including Mets-vs.-Yankees ducats from Razorgator.com.

He also allegedly bought up more than $80,000 in sports memorabilia, including baseballs, bats and gloves signed by Derek Jeter, a $1,799.99 Michael Jordan Team USA jersey, and a $1,149.99 Tiger Woods photo from the 1997 Masters Tournament, from Steiner Sports.

That's not to mention two diamond rings and a pair of sapphire earrings from Tiffany's, cases of wine and pricey meals.

All of the items were shipped to his parents' address -- with him often paying an extra $25 for rush shipment.

Yet, bizarrely, Miller and Egan never met in the flesh.

For two years, Egan sent e-mails and text messages -- but no photos -- to Miller, sometimes also calling her 10 times a day. He promised to take her to Giants football games and charity events. Each time, he'd abruptly cancel their date, claiming his mother was sick or he had a business emergency.

"He charmed me," said Miller, now 52, who sells high-end real estate. "He said he loved his mother, grew up in a big Catholic family. He was very sweet. I figured I'd meet him when I'd meet him. I wasn't in a hurry.

"I was falling in love."

Now, Miller is paying for it. She has had to sell her house and pull her teenage son from private school to make ends meet. She peddled some valuable antiques and moved into an apartment, struggling to pay off the massive debt she incurred, allegedly thanks to Egan.

Her lawyer, Michael Galluzzi, this year filed a civil lawsuit against Egan in Manhattan Supreme Court. When the defendant failed to show up for his court date, Miller was granted a default judgment of $300,000, plus another $300,000 for future losses. The money remains uncollected.

It all started, innocently enough, with an online ad.

Miller's girlfriends, wanting to help her out after she became single again, put together a profile, then posted it on match.com.

Soon, she was contacted via e-mail by the man she thought she'd been waiting for.

Egan told Miller he was 40, lived in Manhattan and traveled extensively for his job in game-day operations with the NFL. He said he liked older women.

After a while, Egan told Miller he had a problem with his credit card. Saying he was determined to buy a birthday dinner for his mom, Pauline, he allegedly asked Miller for her American Express card number. She gave it to him, but then he called again, allegedly saying some places don't take AmEx; could he have another card?

Trustingly, stupidly, she gave Egan her card numbers, she said. He promised to repay her.

When she got the bills, Miller was floored.

She demanded that Egan repay her, but he just strung her along for months, she said. Via Federal Express, he sent $10,000 in checks, which allegedly bounced. He allegedly gave Tiffany's and Steiner Sports bank-account numbers, which were bogus.

Finally, Miller threatened to call authorities. She said he threatened her back.

"I know where you live," she said he texted. "I know where your snotty-brat kid lives."

"I was devastated," Miller said. "I cried for weeks."

Last week, a man who was identified by Egan's father and a pal as John Egan was outside his parents' Avenue C apartment, driving a BMW registered to his dad, Patrick. The man gave his name as "James."

One pal said Egan got married three or four years ago.

This was a surprise to Yolanda Castaneda, 41, also from San Francisco.

She said she met Egan on match.com, where he claimed to be an agent for the Yankees and Jets, but never met him. He did send her photos -- although they were from 15 years ago, when he was much slimmer and minus the gray hair.

But Castaneda was luckier than Miller.

She quickly got suspicious when she saw Egan was on match.com day and night, and cut him off sooner.

Castaneda won a default 2007 small-claims-court judgment of $6,065 against Egan, after she shipped him wine that he said was for his parents' anniversary party.

Egan did not return cellphone messages. His parents refused comment.

Match.com did not respond to a message.

original article here

Stalker Blames Religious Upbringing

by Jeremy Pierce

A GOLD Coast radiographer who tricked a hospital nurse into sending him nude photos of herself has blamed his crime on a strict religious upbringing and an addiction to pornography.

Jordan David Hennig, 26, created an elaborate female persona on the internet using profile pictures of an American porn star to gain the trust of workmate Belinda Fitzgerald.

Hennig faced Southport Magistrates Court yesterday, pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully stalking Fitzgerald, who has since been forced to leave her job at Pindara Private Hospital for another hospital.

Magistrate George Wilkie fined Hennig $4000 and placed him on probation for two years.

The court was told Hennig went to great lengths to create a fake online modelling agency, and contacted Fitzgerald on Facebook under the alias of Megan Jones, saying "she" wanted to use photos of the attractive nurse to promote a spa and beauty business called "Completely Bare".

Fitzgerald sent Hennig several nude pictures of herself taken during a photo shoot for a breast cancer campaign.

To build up Fitzgerald's trust, the fictional Jones sent her raunchy pictures, supposedly of "herself", but which were really of American porn queen Meggan Malone.

The two stayed in regular contact via email and text messages for several months between September last year and March. It was only after Fitzgerald stumbled across links to Megan Jones on Hennig's work computer that she smelled a rat.

Defence lawyer Nick Tobin said his client was ashamed of his actions, but pointed to a strict Seventh Day Adventist upbringing as reason for his behaviour, saying the church "restricted relationships between the sexes".

"He has had very little experience in the way of relationships with women," Mr Tobin said.

He also said Hennig was receiving counselling from a church support group to help battle his "addiction to pornographic material".

Fitzgerald, who did not attend yesterday's proceedings, said she felt let down by the result of the case.

"It's no surprise, I wouldn't expect any more from the court system," she said.

"He gets a fine, but what about the financial burden it caused me?"

Hennig, who is still employed at Pindara, refused to talk to the media outside the court.

original article here

Stalker Blames Religious Upbringing

by Jeremy Pierce

A GOLD Coast radiographer who tricked a hospital nurse into sending him nude photos of herself has blamed his crime on a strict religious upbringing and an addiction to pornography.

Jordan David Hennig, 26, created an elaborate female persona on the internet using profile pictures of an American porn star to gain the trust of workmate Belinda Fitzgerald.

Hennig faced Southport Magistrates Court yesterday, pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully stalking Fitzgerald, who has since been forced to leave her job at Pindara Private Hospital for another hospital.

Magistrate George Wilkie fined Hennig $4000 and placed him on probation for two years.

The court was told Hennig went to great lengths to create a fake online modelling agency, and contacted Fitzgerald on Facebook under the alias of Megan Jones, saying "she" wanted to use photos of the attractive nurse to promote a spa and beauty business called "Completely Bare".

Fitzgerald sent Hennig several nude pictures of herself taken during a photo shoot for a breast cancer campaign.

To build up Fitzgerald's trust, the fictional Jones sent her raunchy pictures, supposedly of "herself", but which were really of American porn queen Meggan Malone.

The two stayed in regular contact via email and text messages for several months between September last year and March. It was only after Fitzgerald stumbled across links to Megan Jones on Hennig's work computer that she smelled a rat.

Defence lawyer Nick Tobin said his client was ashamed of his actions, but pointed to a strict Seventh Day Adventist upbringing as reason for his behaviour, saying the church "restricted relationships between the sexes".

"He has had very little experience in the way of relationships with women," Mr Tobin said.

He also said Hennig was receiving counselling from a church support group to help battle his "addiction to pornographic material".

Fitzgerald, who did not attend yesterday's proceedings, said she felt let down by the result of the case.

"It's no surprise, I wouldn't expect any more from the court system," she said.

"He gets a fine, but what about the financial burden it caused me?"

Hennig, who is still employed at Pindara, refused to talk to the media outside the court.

original article here

Craiglist Ads Used by Thief

A Pennsylvania college student is charged with posting fake online ads to lure victims and rob them.

Police say 22-year-old Corey Jackson of East Stroudsburg would use the free classifieds site Craigslist to find his victims.

Police say Jackson posed as a buyer interested in jewelry and stole expensive rings from the sellers, and offered the sale of a computer but took the cash then wrestled the laptop back.

Jackson is in Northampton County Prison under $75,000 bail on charges of robbery, theft, and related counts.

He also faces charges in Philadelphia in a robbery June 18, when police said he responded to an online ad, doused a man with pepper spray and stole a $14,000 diamond ring from him.

original article here

Craiglist Ads Used by Thief

A Pennsylvania college student is charged with posting fake online ads to lure victims and rob them.

Police say 22-year-old Corey Jackson of East Stroudsburg would use the free classifieds site Craigslist to find his victims.

Police say Jackson posed as a buyer interested in jewelry and stole expensive rings from the sellers, and offered the sale of a computer but took the cash then wrestled the laptop back.

Jackson is in Northampton County Prison under $75,000 bail on charges of robbery, theft, and related counts.

He also faces charges in Philadelphia in a robbery June 18, when police said he responded to an online ad, doused a man with pepper spray and stole a $14,000 diamond ring from him.

original article here

Busted by Facebook

By ALASTAIR TAYLOR

A mother wanted for a string of robberies was caught living it up on the French Riviera after cops traced her through her Facebook page.

Getaway driver Lizzie Tams, 37, fled the UK after being given bail.

She joined the website to keep in touch with pals and boast of her luxury life.

Cops monitored her messages, tipping off French police when she arranged to meet her teenage kids at Nice airport.

She was arrested and hauled back to Britain where she was jailed for 3½ years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Tams, formerly of Brunswick, Newcastle, spent 16 months on the run. She admitted robbery, handling stolen goods and absconding from justice.

original article here

Busted by Facebook

By ALASTAIR TAYLOR

A mother wanted for a string of robberies was caught living it up on the French Riviera after cops traced her through her Facebook page.

Getaway driver Lizzie Tams, 37, fled the UK after being given bail.

She joined the website to keep in touch with pals and boast of her luxury life.

Cops monitored her messages, tipping off French police when she arranged to meet her teenage kids at Nice airport.

She was arrested and hauled back to Britain where she was jailed for 3½ years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Tams, formerly of Brunswick, Newcastle, spent 16 months on the run. She admitted robbery, handling stolen goods and absconding from justice.

original article here

Online Predator Targetted Mothers

Man acted out death threats against children; More prison time sought

by Mike McIntyre

He is described as a serial predator who scours the Internet for vulnerable single mothers, wins their hearts with a bogus tale of bravado and then terrorizes them and their children.

Terrance Moquin has left a trail of dashed hopes and devastated victims across Canada and in the United States in a 15-year crime spree. Now a Manitoba Crown attorney wants the justice system to fight back.

"He's sadistic, manipulative and relentless in his offences. He appears to be unstoppable, whether he's on parole, probation, on release or, for that matter, even when he's in jail," prosecutor Cindy Sholdice told provincial court Judge Ken Champagne in calling for a seven-year prison sentence.

"He is capable of extreme physical and mental violence against vulnerable individuals."

Moquin, 38, is expected to learn his fate Tuesday morning after being convicted of his latest crimes, which involve befriending a single mother of two children in an online chat room and then assaulting her when the relationship turned sour in 2007. Moquin was on parole and probation at the time and required to report all relationships to justice officials, which he failed to do.

"Over and over and over again... he manipulated his probation officers. They never suspected a thing," Sholdice said during her sentencing submissions last week.

Like past victims, Moquin told the woman his name was really "Lane Kidd," a former U.S. Marine and trained sniper from Texas who had fought in Iraq and moved to western Manitoba to pursue a successful career in the oil and trucking industry. He even proudly showed off his army tattoo.

Moquin's adult criminal history dates back to the early 1990s, when he repeatedly attacked his wife when she confronted him about his penchant for using phone-sex chat lines. He forced the woman to perform oral sex on him while holding a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her in front of their young son, court was told.

Moquin got out of jail in 1998 and quickly befriended a married woman in Red Deer, Alta. He eventually moved into the home -- her husband was on a lengthy work-related stint overseas -- and began to administer "corporal punishment" to her three children, aged 7, 9 and 11.

His most disturbing act involved telling the kids he was going to kill them all and forcing them to choose the means -- a beating, hanging or throat-slitting. Moquin then began to act out the death scenarios, even tying a dog collar around one child's neck and holding him over the side of a staircase, court was told.

He was given two years in prison and three years' probation for those incidents. A parole report claimed Moquin displayed a "callous disregard for the rights of others."

Moquin continued a similar pattern of behaviour following his release, meeting nearly a dozen women in Manitoba through the Internet.

Their romances usually ended when Moquin got caught stealing money from them and/or abusing them and their children, court was told.

Moquin received several short jail terms in the early 2000s, usually not for more than about six months at a time.

In 2005, he befriended a married woman from Minot, N.D. and convinced her to come to Winnipeg to post bail for him after one of his arrests for breaching terms of his probation. She left her husband and children, believing Moquin's story that he'd got into a fight while "defending the American flag" with a rude Canadian, court was told. She was intercepted by police who told her the truth about her online lover.

Moquin has spent the past year in custody, and the Crown is seeking up to six more years in prison. Defence lawyer Jody Ostapiw said her client only deserves another year behind bars, saying he can't be given extra punishment just for being a chronic "liar."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MIKE ON CRIME

Online Predator Targetted Mothers

Man acted out death threats against children; More prison time sought

by Mike McIntyre

He is described as a serial predator who scours the Internet for vulnerable single mothers, wins their hearts with a bogus tale of bravado and then terrorizes them and their children.

Terrance Moquin has left a trail of dashed hopes and devastated victims across Canada and in the United States in a 15-year crime spree. Now a Manitoba Crown attorney wants the justice system to fight back.

"He's sadistic, manipulative and relentless in his offences. He appears to be unstoppable, whether he's on parole, probation, on release or, for that matter, even when he's in jail," prosecutor Cindy Sholdice told provincial court Judge Ken Champagne in calling for a seven-year prison sentence.

"He is capable of extreme physical and mental violence against vulnerable individuals."

Moquin, 38, is expected to learn his fate Tuesday morning after being convicted of his latest crimes, which involve befriending a single mother of two children in an online chat room and then assaulting her when the relationship turned sour in 2007. Moquin was on parole and probation at the time and required to report all relationships to justice officials, which he failed to do.

"Over and over and over again... he manipulated his probation officers. They never suspected a thing," Sholdice said during her sentencing submissions last week.

Like past victims, Moquin told the woman his name was really "Lane Kidd," a former U.S. Marine and trained sniper from Texas who had fought in Iraq and moved to western Manitoba to pursue a successful career in the oil and trucking industry. He even proudly showed off his army tattoo.

Moquin's adult criminal history dates back to the early 1990s, when he repeatedly attacked his wife when she confronted him about his penchant for using phone-sex chat lines. He forced the woman to perform oral sex on him while holding a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her in front of their young son, court was told.

Moquin got out of jail in 1998 and quickly befriended a married woman in Red Deer, Alta. He eventually moved into the home -- her husband was on a lengthy work-related stint overseas -- and began to administer "corporal punishment" to her three children, aged 7, 9 and 11.

His most disturbing act involved telling the kids he was going to kill them all and forcing them to choose the means -- a beating, hanging or throat-slitting. Moquin then began to act out the death scenarios, even tying a dog collar around one child's neck and holding him over the side of a staircase, court was told.

He was given two years in prison and three years' probation for those incidents. A parole report claimed Moquin displayed a "callous disregard for the rights of others."

Moquin continued a similar pattern of behaviour following his release, meeting nearly a dozen women in Manitoba through the Internet.

Their romances usually ended when Moquin got caught stealing money from them and/or abusing them and their children, court was told.

Moquin received several short jail terms in the early 2000s, usually not for more than about six months at a time.

In 2005, he befriended a married woman from Minot, N.D. and convinced her to come to Winnipeg to post bail for him after one of his arrests for breaching terms of his probation. She left her husband and children, believing Moquin's story that he'd got into a fight while "defending the American flag" with a rude Canadian, court was told. She was intercepted by police who told her the truth about her online lover.

Moquin has spent the past year in custody, and the Crown is seeking up to six more years in prison. Defence lawyer Jody Ostapiw said her client only deserves another year behind bars, saying he can't be given extra punishment just for being a chronic "liar."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MIKE ON CRIME