Suspected pedophile targets Texas girl using PS3 and camera

by Ben Gilbert { Mar 16th 2009 at 4:41PM }

Texas ABC affiliate ABC-13 is reporting that a 24-year-old Kentucky man, named Anthony Scott O'Shea, was using his PlayStation 3 to request nude self-pictures from an 11-year-old Texas girl. According to police, Mr. O'Shea did not own a computer and was solely employing his PS3 and the PlayStation Network to speak with the girl. When she refused to take them, he supposedly threatened to remove her from his friends list, saying, "Friends do things for each other. You're on my friends list. If you don't, I'm gonna remove you."

Using a camera attached to her PS3, the Texas girl then sent Mr. O'Shea the pictures which, according to police, Mr. O'Shea distributed through email "across the country." Parents of the 11-year-old girl notified authorities immediately when they found out about the actions, but apparently their daughter remained steadfast in her opinion of Mr. O'Shea, asking police, "Why is my friend going to jail?" Mr. O'Shea is being charged with:

Sexual performance of a child

Online solicitation of a minor

Promotion of child pornography

Those sound like three pretty good reasons right there. According to GamePolitics, Sony provided technical assistance to the Texas police in helping to track down O'Shea.

[Thanks, Gian S.!]

Tags: child-porn, kentucky, pedophile, pedophilia, playstation-network, pornography, psn, texas

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

NaeemTHM @ Mar 16th 2009 4:44PM

I clicked on the child porn tag...should I expect Chris Hanson?

MowDownJoe @ Mar 16th 2009 4:47PM

They HAD to ban Mr. Esc! No one else looks right with a Chris Hanson avatar...

Cody @ Mar 16th 2009 5:14PM

wow Nintendo was right!!!

TOP STORY ***Sony enforces 56 digit friend codes on PSN***

George Hoppe @ Mar 16th 2009 5:28PM

CHRIS HANSON... BOOOOOM

McManus @ Mar 16th 2009 4:46PM

Where can I see these pictures?

samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 16th 2009 4:46PM

Why don't you take a seat there...

Zertoss @ Mar 16th 2009 5:19PM

"How old are you?"

"11"

"18? You're first."

"Mom!"

"I like where this is going. Giggity giggity giggity!"

Saria the Cat @ Mar 16th 2009 5:20PM

Seriously, McManus? Either you're not much older than 14 or you have no idea what an 11 year old looks like. That's PREpubescent, man.

Disgusting.

james @ Mar 16th 2009 5:31PM

if theres grass play ball.

Saria the Cat @ Mar 16th 2009 5:35PM

@james: In this case, there wouldn't be grass!

chaos3346 @ Mar 16th 2009 6:05PM

Then you just play in the mud instead!!!

*is going to hell

McManus @ Mar 16th 2009 6:14PM

I'm 13 thank you very much.

mynk @ Mar 16th 2009 7:09PM

dude seriously. 11 year olds dont even look good. i dont get the CP people... i mean....

The Baron @ Mar 16th 2009 8:17PM

This is a sinister conversation, even by internet standards.

Maverick Saturn @ Mar 16th 2009 8:21PM

*Quickly moves on*

samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 16th 2009 4:46PM

Breaking press release from Nintendo. It simply reads:

"See? We told you Friend codes were a great idea!"

el serpiente @ Mar 16th 2009 4:58PM

It's worth it to sacrifice a child here and there for the good of online gaming.

Lars @ Mar 16th 2009 5:18PM

I blame the parents. The internet is a wild untamed land. It's a wonderful thing, but you have to take precautions.

Would you let your 11-year-old play alone in the jungles of Brazil? No, so why would you leave them alone in the wild internets? But by all means that does NOT mean the jungles need to be bubble-wrapped and all the animals caged. Some environments should be left untamed.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Mar 16th 2009 6:58PM

definitely with Lars on this, the PS3 has parental settings in place that could have prevented this all together. kids shouldn't be playing with random people online, at least until they are old enough to understand "why her friend is going to jail". it all comes back to the parents at least actually taking an interest in what their kids do.

Colonel Radec (PSN: slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 16th 2009 7:16PM

next thing ya know, people like sprinkles are gonna start calling the ps3 the "pervert station 3" or the "pedophile station 3" or something similar... and why would the dude go for an 11 year old girl anyways? eww...

joshua @ Mar 16th 2009 8:40PM

lol. what the heck friends codes would do to prevent this from happening? all you have to do is ask for them... I don't think that would be the answer to this. the simple answer to prevent this from happening is NOT TO HAVE A CAMERA!!!! no camera no pictures.

Maxwell Ash @ Mar 16th 2009 4:46PM

How did he email them across the country if he didn't have a computer?

Abobo @ Mar 16th 2009 4:48PM

According to Sony, the PS3 IS a computer!

Oh, the wonders of modern technology... wait, no, this is terrible!

greg (peevmyster) @ Mar 16th 2009 4:48PM

PS3 has a web browser.

Erluti @ Mar 16th 2009 4:49PM

Can't you use a PS3 as a browser? Maybe he used hotmail or something.

CJC @ Mar 16th 2009 4:51PM

Didn't you read the article? Friends make and share porn together on PSN ALL THE TIME.

Apparently, I haven't been making the right kinds of friends.

MowDownJoe @ Mar 16th 2009 4:57PM

@CJC: Why would you want those friends? You know there's no girls on the internet.

Zertoss @ Mar 16th 2009 5:05PM

There are no WOMEN on the internet. There's a difference.

Saria the Cat @ Mar 16th 2009 5:30PM

@MowDownJoe: *obligatory arm-flailing*

Unnxandros @ Mar 16th 2009 5:54PM

linux on the other partition?

HappyEisentrout @ Mar 16th 2009 4:49PM

Why was he using his PS3 upside down? He has issues.

Jack_Jackington @ Mar 16th 2009 4:52PM

HAHAHAHAHA thats your biggest issue with this guy?

psxman @ Mar 16th 2009 5:30PM

Hah, I saw that too, thought it was preeeeety weird.

Neal @ Mar 16th 2009 8:19PM

That's the first thing I noticed. It's actually upside-down and the image is mirrored...weird.

Saintgutfree @ Mar 16th 2009 9:20PM

I didn't even notice that. What the hell is up with it being upside down? WHO DOES THIS?!

WHO?! WHO DAMNIT?!

Erluti @ Mar 16th 2009 4:50PM

He must be really good at Killzone 2 if you want him on your friends list that badly.

coolforever4537 @ Mar 16th 2009 4:50PM

"Why is my friend going to jail?"

Because he's not your friend, he's a sick pedo.

EDITED: No calling 11-year-old girls idiots. Sorry buddy.

AsherR @ Mar 16th 2009 4:55PM

At the age of 11, most children don't have any concept about anything like that. So I wouldn't call the girl an idiot. At least that's how it is where i'm from. I'm getting old, so maybe things have changed a lot. :(

Phantom @ Mar 16th 2009 6:40PM

WHERE DO YOU GET AN EDIT BUTTON!

Mr Khan @ Mar 16th 2009 7:04PM

The edit button is invisible, and you have no control over it.

Though it means the moderators are out there, waiting...

Danny @ Mar 16th 2009 4:50PM

Why are her parents not being forced to take classes or relinquish their daughter to foster parents? I mean what runs through their minds when they give their child a gateway to the homes of every person with every possible depravity known to man? I'm not for the pedophile here, I'm just saying they exist and to assume Sony is constantly watching your child play in the same way a teacher at a school does is ludicrous. They also should have taught their daughter that friends don't ask you to show your naughty places in order to stay friends. That has bad news for the future written all over it.

Danny @ Mar 16th 2009 4:54PM

Also this
Where can I see these pictures?
>.>

Vcize @ Mar 16th 2009 6:28PM

Meh, I don't think you're really keeping up with modern times. Whether it's on a PS3 or not, most kids nowadays are connected to the internet without 24/7 monitoring. I'd wager that most kids have AIM, text messages, etc. PSN is just more of the same.