Magnet Libraries

Criminals know to seek out and use public libraries having weak or nonexistent library porn filters.  Below is an example.  And the evidence comes right from the mouth of the criminal.  So if your library allows porn despite policy and the law, your library is a magnet for criminals.

Notice the library's Internet use policy states it provides Internet filters, blocks porn in accordance with law, and adheres to the Children's Internet Protection Act, but it is completely useless, as all "acceptable use policies" are.  It is apparently just for show because it looks really good but it obviously does not work.  The Maricopa County Superior Court judge and relevant legal counsel ought to consider if the library is itself partly responsible for providing an attractive nuisance:

• "Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources," by Scottsdale Public Library, Scottsdale, AZ (hyperlinks in original):

  4.  The Library provides filtered access to the Internet in order to adhere to the requirements set forth in Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS 13-3501 “Obscenity, Definitions”, 13-3506.01 “Furnishing Harmful Items to Minors, Internet Activity”, 13-3507 “Public Display of Explicit Sexual Material”) and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Because filtering software is inherently imperfect, we cannot guarantee that all Internet content will be appropriately filtered at all times.
  
  5.  Adult customers may request unfiltered Internet access at any time without having to provide an explanation to library staff. Disabling of the Internet filter by Library staff in no way exempts the customer from ARS 13-3507 “Public Display of Explicit Sexual Material.”

Ever heard of magnet schools?  Well Scottsdale Public Library is a magnet library.  Does your community have a magnet library like this one?

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• "PD: Gilbert School Bus Driver Downloaded Child Porn at Library," by Phil Benson, CBS 5 (KPHO), 5 June 2014 (emphasis added, hyperlink in original):

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (CBS5) -

A man awaiting trial on child sex crimes was arrested at his Gilbert home Tuesday on allegations of downloading hundreds of images of child porn at a Scottsdale library, police said.

Murat Alev, 60, was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitoring device that enabled Maricopa County adult probation officers to track him down at Mustang Library at 10101 N. 90th St.

Alev was a school bus driver for the Gilbert school system at the time of his arrest, according to a probable cause statement.

Alev handed over a thumb drive that he admitted contained hundreds of images he downloaded of young naked girls while on the library computer, a court document stated.

Court paperwork stated Alev had been at the library for six hours.

Alev told a Scottsdale police detective that he was at Mustang Library because its computers "don't filter as well as other libraries," according to the probable cause statement.

The man is currently on felony release pretrial services for furnishing obscene materials to minors. As part of his release conditions, he is not allowed to access computers or the internet.

Scottsdale police detectives arrested Alev after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted a warrant.

Authorities said examining the thumb drive and said future charges are possible.

Copyright 2014 CBS 5 (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

URL of this page:  safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/06/MagnetLibraries.html

On Twitter:  @CBS5AZ @CourtPIO @ScottsdaleAZGov @ScottsdalePD @ScottsdaleReads 

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Chatting Up Child Victims in Montpelier, VT, Courtesy of ALA Policy Controlling Yet Another Community's Public Library; Parole Board Should Consider Library Complicity

Oh look.  A child predator who went to jail for a few months of his 3-4 year sentence for "attempting to lure a minor and possessing child pornography" used Yahoo Messenger on a public library computer to lure his next child victim.   This was at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in lovely Montpelier, VT.  The library's reaction?  He hogged the computers:  "The librarian stated that [the man] had been in the library frequently and that he has been monopolizing the computer several times a day in violation of the library’s own policies."  See "Man Denied Bail for Violating Conditions of Probation," by Jaime Cone, Brattleboro Reformer, 26 November 2009.

Why might this have happened?  "In 1997 the Board adopted an Internet Policy recommended by the American Library Association."  Uh oh.  The library adopted the ALA-recommended policy.  Clue one something is wrong.  Oh, that's right, the ALA does not control local community libraries, we're supposed to believe.  Nevermind.

Clue two something is wrong:

Internet Access
The Internet, a world-wide network of computer networks is an essential medium for obtaining and transmitting information of all types.  Therefore, public access to the Internet is germane to the Library's mission.

However, the Internet is an unregulated medium.  It also provides access to information that is inaccurate, illegal or that some may find offensive or disturbing.  The Library will identify on its web site specific Internet sites that have potential interest for Library users.  But the Library cannot control a user's access to other Internet resources.

That is flat out false.  The library can and may control a user's access to the Internet, it just refuses to do so because the ALA has directed how the library will act, according to the library's own admission.  It's right there in black and white.

The perp said he was "incredibly dishonest and manipulative about this stuff."  Perhaps it's the library itself that has been incredibly dishonest and manipulative.  

I think a better title for the media report would have been "ALA Policy Controlling Public Library Endangers More Children; Kellogg-Hubbard Library Falsely Claims It Cannot Control Internet Usage," by Jaime Cone, Brattleboro Reformer, 26 November 2009.

The perp has a violation of parole meeting coming up.  I suggest he argue that the library is partially at fault for refusing to take action that may have prevented his behavior in the first place.  I suggest the parole board consider the library to be under the control of a foreign entity, the ALA, and that control made it an "attractive nuisance" that the perp could not resist and that endangers children.
Will the local community allow this to remain another sad statistic, or will it do what it must to protect its children by kicking out the anything-goes policy of the ALA in the public library?   Is it the public's library or the ALA's library?   Ask the ex-con with the duct tape, camera, and the variety of alcohol found in his car in lovely Montpelier, VT.

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