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Internet task force announces 12 more arrests
Published: February 28, 2007
MERRIMACK - Seven years in state prison isn't enough punishment for Internet predators, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said.
Within the next 30 days, she will ask for tougher laws that "significantly increase the penalties" for convictions for child pornography and soliciting a child for sex online.
Ayotte also wants harsher penalties for repeat offenders, something not allowed with the laws now on the books, she said.
She called for new rules for Internet child predators at a press conference yesterday at the Merrimack police station, organized to announce 12 more arrests by the Southern Hillsborough County Cyber Safe Task Force.
The 12 people, men between the ages of 21 and 47, have been apprehended since November 2006 for allegedly soliciting children under age 16. They were caught by investigators trained to pose on the Internet as juveniles.
Police said the most recent arrest was Adam Koch, 21, of Pelham. Koch, a machinist, was charged in August 2006 with "certain uses of a computer prohibited." An investigation later revealed Koch was involved "in an inappropriate relationship" with a child under 16, police said. He was charged Saturday with two offenses - aggravated felonious sexual assault and felonious sexual assault. Koch was arraigned Monday in Salem District Court, and a cash bail of $50,000 was set.
Merrimack police Chief William Mulligan said the task force is using press conferences to send the message to predators that police are on the Internet and will "come after" them if they solicit children.
The task force, which includes police from Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Merrimack, Nashua and Pelham, as well as New Hampshire State Police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department, announced five arrests in August and six in November last year.
Roger Chadwick, first assistant Hillsborough County Attorney, said the number of arrests shows police detectives "cannot do this alone," but need help from the state, as well as parents and the children.
Chadwick said the same parents who would not let their children play alone in a park allow them to use the Internet without supervision. The detectives have found cases of second-graders allowed to "play online games" and go into chat rooms, he said.
Within the next 30 days, she will ask for tougher laws that "significantly increase the penalties" for convictions for child pornography and soliciting a child for sex online.
Ayotte also wants harsher penalties for repeat offenders, something not allowed with the laws now on the books, she said.
She called for new rules for Internet child predators at a press conference yesterday at the Merrimack police station, organized to announce 12 more arrests by the Southern Hillsborough County Cyber Safe Task Force.
The 12 people, men between the ages of 21 and 47, have been apprehended since November 2006 for allegedly soliciting children under age 16. They were caught by investigators trained to pose on the Internet as juveniles.
Police said the most recent arrest was Adam Koch, 21, of Pelham. Koch, a machinist, was charged in August 2006 with "certain uses of a computer prohibited." An investigation later revealed Koch was involved "in an inappropriate relationship" with a child under 16, police said. He was charged Saturday with two offenses - aggravated felonious sexual assault and felonious sexual assault. Koch was arraigned Monday in Salem District Court, and a cash bail of $50,000 was set.
Merrimack police Chief William Mulligan said the task force is using press conferences to send the message to predators that police are on the Internet and will "come after" them if they solicit children.
The task force, which includes police from Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Merrimack, Nashua and Pelham, as well as New Hampshire State Police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department, announced five arrests in August and six in November last year.
Roger Chadwick, first assistant Hillsborough County Attorney, said the number of arrests shows police detectives "cannot do this alone," but need help from the state, as well as parents and the children.
Chadwick said the same parents who would not let their children play alone in a park allow them to use the Internet without supervision. The detectives have found cases of second-graders allowed to "play online games" and go into chat rooms, he said.
Chadwick said parents don't realize the lengths to which sexual predators will go to meet children. He cited the example of Michael Danklefs, 31, of Manchester arrested in a snowstorm while allegedly trying to meet a juvenile for sex.
Chadwick also announced Terrance Halter, the first suspect arrested by the task force, was convicted earlier this month on two counts of using the computer illegally. Pelham police Detective Anne Perriello testified during the case, Chadwick said.
Ayotte said her office has seen an increase in the number of crimes connected to the Internet and children. Another "disturbing trend," she said, is that one in seven children is solicited for sex online. Ayotte said she hopes to hire a new prosecutor to deal with Internet crimes against children, but urged parents to talk to their children.
"This is very important to talk to your children about," she said. "It's not an issue we can arrest ourselves out of."
Arrested
r Daniel Fellows, 21, Deering, unemployed, arrested in Merrimack
* Erik Van Winkle, 26, Bretton Woods, cook, arrested in Merrimack
* Peter St. Laurent, 47, Webster, Mass., engineer, arrested in Hudson
* Darryl Lafleur, 30, Greenville, assistant manager at McDonald's, arrested in Hudson
* Eric Blaisdell, 21, North Haverhill, Mass., college student, arrested in Hudson
* Michael Danklefs, 31, Manchester, contractor, arrested in Hudson
* Christopher Driesse, 36, Weare, self-employed, arrested in Hudson
* Rexander Gato, 24, Manchester, assembler, arrested in Hudson
* Michael Herman, 30, Manchester, cashier at Stop & Shop, arrested in Hudson
* Robert Frasier, 22, Rochester, unemployed, arrested in Brookline
* Joel Hunt, 24, Antrim, unemployed, arrested in Brookline
* Adam Koch, 21, Pelham, machinist, arrested in Pelham
