Police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, have arrested 23-year-old Gerald Thomas Brennan III, a resident of Royersford, for allegedly soliciting sex from a teenage boy he met via MySpace.com. Earlier this week, police asked for help from the public in determining whether Brennan had used the Internet to contact other teens. Since then, I have uncovered several other accounts Brennan had on the Internet.
According to Lancaster City Police, Brennan had two profiles on the popular social networking Web site, on which he identified himself as a 16-year-old boy. Using the screen names "jerry122829" and "swimmer2532," Brennan allegedly solicited sex acts from a 14-year-old boy from the Lancaster area. Police say Brennan engaged in conversations with the teen via MySpace, e-mail, and telephone. Brennan also allegedly used a computer to send a nude photo of himself to the teen and then made arrangements to meet for sex.
In January, the teen's parents contacted police and told them their son had been solicited for sex on the Internet. Lancaster City Police, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Pennsylvania State Police Area Computer Crimes Task Force, and the Lancaster County District Attorney's Child Abuse Unit, were able to identify Brennan and made arrangements for him to meet the teen at a shopping plaza.
When Brennan showed up for the meeting, he was arrested on felony charges of unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communication facility, attempted statutory sexual assault, and attempted involuntary deviant sexual intercourse. He was also charged with four misdemeanor counts of corruption of a minor, open lewdness, attempted indecent assault, and solicitation of indecent assault.
As a result of the charges, Brennan was booked in the Lancaster County Prison, where he is being held on a $250,000 bail.
Brennan's MySpace profile, listed under the screen name jerry122829, is no longer active; however, his other profile, swimmer2532, remains active. The profile is currently set to private and lists the last login date as Dec. 4, 2007. The only aspects of the profile visible are his location, which he has set as Royersford, Pennsylvania, and his age, which he has listed as fifteen.
Yesterday, I uncovered several other profiles on the Internet that are associated with Brennan.
Within a profile attributed to Brennan at Xanga.com, the author describes himself as a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who enjoys "anything I can find to do with other people." In the "About Me" section of the profile, the author wrote:
"Gay boy looking for other gay boys to chat with. Big bonus if u live in PA." [Sic throughout].
Some of the groups associated with the profile include, "Gay Boys," "Gay Swimmers," and "Gay Teens Unite."
Other profiles attributed to Brennan can be found at Yahoo (swimmer2807), Yahoo360 (GeraldB), Playwithgays.com (swimmer2532 - not linked here due to graphic content) and Buzznet.com (swimmer2807).
Each of the above-mentioned profiles is pretty basic and does not vary much from the information already mentioned. However, another profile (swimmer2532 — not linked here due to graphic content) attributed to Brennan at Thehustle.net is a little more revealing, in that the author has uploaded a photo of himself masturbating. Within the "About Me" section of the profile the author wrote:
"i'm very straight acting was the captain of four sports teams in high school...love watchin sports especially philadelphia teams cuz that's where i'm from...like partyin with my friends and playin ball....just livin life to the fullest...lookin for a cute boy for whatever...down for hookups or relationships...." [Sic throughout].
Given the rather extensive Internet presence I found, Brennan most likely has several other profiles on the Internet under other user names.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about similar incidents involving Brennan or his Internet profiles to contact Lt. Stephen Skiles at 717-735-3411.