HARRISBURG - Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Child Predator Unit have arrested six Internet predators from across Pennsylvania during the past week, including suspects from Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties.  The men are accused of using the Internet to sexually proposition children, or transmitting sexually graphic photos and webcam videos.  The "children" were actually undercover agents using the online profiles of young teens.

Corbett identified the Pocono area defendants as:

• Timothy Eric Shorkey, 33, 80 Fawn Road, East Stroudsburg, Monroe County.
• Theodore Patrick Malinowski II, 34, 66 Spring Road, Dingmans Ferry, Pike County.
• Glenn Larry Quail, 39, 3 Whirling Post Lane, White Mills, Wayne County.

Shorkey

Malinowski

Quail

The other arrests were of men from Fayette, Lebanon and Luzerne counties. 

"Movies and television are filled with scary stories and frightening images this Halloween season, but it is real-life predators stalking the Internet that are the true 'horror story' for parents and children," Corbett said. "Unlike Hollywood monsters, these Internet predators don't disappear when the movie is over or the TV is turned off."  

Corbett noted that since its creation in 2005, the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit has arrested 175 men from across Pennsylvania, and from as far away as Kentucky and Florida.  So far this year, the unit has made 63 arrests - more than any other previous year.

"Every day, adults are using Internet chat rooms, message services, social networking sites and other online resources to search for vulnerable young victims for their own sexual pleasure," Corbett said. "The number of predators we have been able to identify and arrest has been growing rapidly, and it is vital that parents and children understand this threat."

Corbett said that Internet safety, just like traditional Halloween safety, starts as home.

Parents are encouraged to regularly talk to their kids about how they use the Internet, including:

• What website they use.
• What social networking sites they frequent (MySpace, Facebook, etc).
• The importance of not sharing personal information with people you do not know (names, ages, addresses, schools or other identifying information).
• Avoiding strangers who approach you online.
• Reporting any contact with individuals who engage in sexual discussions or attempt to send graphic photos or videos.