Two 15-year-olds have been arrested by California authorities on charges
they made death threats and tried to extort money from at least three computer
bulletin board operators.
As reported in Online Today yesterday, Encino, Calif., BBS sysop John Sands
went to police after receiving demands for money and threats on his life in
messages left on his board in March and the first part of this month.
Police now say that the two suspects -- both reportedly sophomores at Seaside
High School near Monterey, Calif. -- also are accused of making similar
computerized threats on a Fort Ord-based Army staff sergeant and his teen-age
son, and on another student at a private high school in the Pebble Beach,
Calif., area.
The juveniles were arrested at their homes in Marina by investigators who
seized computer equipment allegedly used to transmit the threats, according to
United Press International reporter Michael D. Harris.
Authorities say the teen-agers, who allegedly demanded payments ranging from
$50 to $350 from at least the three BBS sysops identified, were turned over to
their parents while authorities decide how and where they should be prosecuted.
The case came to light yesterday after reports surfaced that legal complaints
had been filed by Sands, who is the chief electronics engineer for Capitol
Records. Sands, 43, said the visitors to his private BBS demanded $350 from him
and threatened violence if he didn't pay.
The computer message instructed Sands to leave the money at a drop site in
San Jose. During the investigation, Los Angeles police prepared a phony drop
but never carried it out because they susequently received tips that led them
to the youths, said police Lt. Fred Reno.
Following the arrests, Sands told Harris, "It was a little scary because even
though I suspected they were juveniles, I felt they were probably capable of
carrying out their threats. I%m sorry to see any young person get in trouble,
but I'm relieved that they were arrested."
Meanwhile, according to Judy Smagula Farah of the Associated Press, the
youths and Sands once belonged to the same computer club and used a code that
gave them access to Sands' bulletin board.
Reno said that if the suspects decide to plead guilty to the likely charges
of accessing a computer system to extort money, their sentencing will occur in
Monterey County. If they decide to fight the charges, the case -- the first of
its kind in Los Angeles County -- will be prosecuted in Southern California.
