WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Internet predators hunting next victims

Internet predators hunting next victims

(Lexington) May 9, 2006 - Many parents are wondering how they can help protect their children from the dangers they face online. There's no question that the internet can expose teens to situations that would horrify parents.

Donald Brink, 32, thought he was meeting a 13-year-old Lexington girl for sex. The "girl" was actually an undercover SLED agent.

When Brink went to Lexington to meet the teen, he was arrested.

In January, Brink was sentenced to eight years for sex crimes.

Sanghoon Lee, 29, lived in Cayce. He was in the Midlands on a student visa when authorities say Lee solicited sex online from a girl he thought was 14. That happened last July.

Lee also set up a meeting.. Instead of sex, Lee was busted by the Aiken County Sheriff's Department. His 10 year sentence was suspended to five years probation and a trip home to South Korea.

In perhaps the most bone-chilling case so far, 52-year-old Steve Wayne Gunter from Columbia started sexual discussions on line with a girl he thought was 14, according to authorities. Gunter also traveled to Aiken to meet the teen for sex, and was arrested.

An investigation into Gunter's past revealed child porn. Authorities say he had at least one image of a girl assumed to be 10-years-old.

That's not all. Further investigation revealed Gunter met another young girl online, and this time it wasn't a SLED agent.

Gunter pleaded guilty to charges that he repeatedly had sex with a 16-year-old Sumter girl. He also made videos of the two of them having sex.

Gunter is serving 10 years for criminal solicitation of a minor.

"Every time we put a new law enforcement officer online seaching for these predators, within hours they are solicited. It's scary. It's scary," says Trey Walker. Walker is with the Attorney General's office.

The Attorney General is working with state law enforcement agencies establishing an internet predator task force that's been online for two years. The task force has made 19 arrests so far. Three people have pleaded guilty and 16 cases are pending.

Part of the reason business is booming is, according to Walker, social networking sites like Tag and MySpace, "These social networking sites are petri dishes for perverts. These children go there and open up their personal lives for these predators to see, gain their trust and potentially attempt to lure them."

Reported by Kara Gormley

Posted 9:47pm by Chantelle Janelle