HOUSTON -- Prosecutors in Harris County are taking their social networking skills into the courtroom.
“You’re seeing it more and more,” said Harris County prosecutor Eric Devlin. “You’re seeing it more often than not people using it to attack credibility, to enhance credibility, that type of thing.”
Devlin heads up as task force known as the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children.
“I’m basically the biggest geek in the office,” he said.
The prosecutor said a few words you post on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace could lead to a few days, weeks or years behind bars if you’re up to no good.
“I’ve had some people post, ‘what are you doing,’ ‘I’m out smoking, I’m out doing this,’ and you’ve seen probation revocations based upon what they’re doing, the photographs they posted, video tapes of them out at bars when they’re not supposed to be,” he said.
Just recently Devlin said investigators used MySpace to help crack the case of a suspected child predator.
Kevin Sellars is accused of using the social networking site to lure a 15-year-old Indiana boy to his Midtown apartment where they had sexual relations. Prosecutors say Sellars has HIV and because of that he’s charged with aggravated sexual assault.
According to Devlin, law enforcement used MySpace to track Sellars down and investigators could use information they gathered from his Web page in court.
“Every time you connect to MySpace, every time you connect to Facebook, any of the social networking sites, you leave an electronic trail,” he said.
Devlin also said what you post on the sites is there for good, even if you delete your account.
“The photographs are there, the video is there, the writing is there. The difficulty you have is who posted it, who wrote it, as well as authenticating where exactly it came from,” said Devlin.
Devlin says investigators are watching, so watch what you post, you never know when it could be used against you in court.
