Web service provides photo of alleged rapist

With the help of the IU Police Department, a female who reported being raped at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity Thursday night found her alleged rapist through http://thefacebook.com.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said the victim's friends initiated the online search because they had an idea of who he was, but wanted to confirm his name and identity.\n"We have never used Thefacebook," Minger said. "Personally, I had not even heard about it. It wouldn't be good for any kind of person who is going to commit a crime to put their profile in there, but (the service) is of great benefit for the police department."\nAccording to IUPD reports, the 18-year-old woman, whose name has not yet been released, had a sample taken for a rape kit following the incident. Minger said evidence has been collected, but no more reports have been filed as far as additional interviews.\nPolice reports also indicate that the victim was an unwilling participant and did not consent to any sexual relations.\nMinger said the IUPD often uses Web services to locate suspects or to see what sites they log on to. For example, he said just this week, two computers were brought in for a hard drive analysis in connection with drug dealing.\nYears ago, Minger said, the IUPD had access to photo identification cards distributed through Campus Card Services.\n"We used to get copies of them and had a photo ID of every student who went to IU," he said. The photos were used to assist officers in identifying students regarding crimes. \nHowever, Minger said a recent provision ruled academic and police records could not be intertwined, making it difficult for the IUPD to obtain student photographs. \nThefacebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities, according to Thefacebook's Web site. The service allows members to build profiles with their picture, contact and personal information, including interests, extracurricular activities and courses they are taking.\nArvind Verma, associate professor of criminal justice, said police are indubitably becoming more computer savvy, using more sophisticated methods of tracking down criminals as a large amount of data can be better searched by computers.\n"They started training officers in use of modern technology," Verma said. \nVerma said using Thefacebook presents no ethical questions.\n"If you put any information on the Web, it's for public domain," he said. "There are no privacy issues involved. If you want to have a personal site, password protection is available."\nMinger said he views http://thefacebook.com as an "advantageous tool" for IUPD.\n"I will absolutely use (Thefacebook) in the future," he said. "Whether it's valid or fraudulent information, it's something that police departments need to know about for identification purposes."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Lori Geller at lfgeller@indiana.edu.