A man from Albany, New York was sentenced to 13 years in prison for raping four teenage girls he met on Facebook.

David Bradt used Facebook to meet more than 700 girls, mostly between the ages 15 and 20.

According to the Times Union, he would first ‘friend’ one teenager on Facebook, then send friend request to all her friends.

He was arrested after the mother of a 16-year-old girl became concerned over unusual text messages her daughter received from him.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares told reporters Bradt targeted high-school cliques and exploited them.

“When he was ‘friending’ one girl and he was able to see her list of friends, he was basically using those girls as leads, like you would in a business…That’s how he was venturing into these other networks and was able to identify and find all of his prey,” Times Union quotes Soares.

Bradt pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree rape for having sex with underage victims.

This isn’t the first time sexual offenders have use Facebook to find their prey. Users should exercise more caution in their judgments when accepting/making friends on social networks.

In an interesting turn of event, Lockport police posted a thank-you note on 39-year-old Christopher Crego’s Facebook page saying, “It was due to your diligence in keeping us informed that now you are under arrest.”

According to the source, police in western New York said the fugitive all but turned himself in by posting his workplace on Facebook and MySpace.

Mr. Crego, who was wanted since he failed to show up for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty in the fall to assault and was also charged with drunken driving, drug possession and using a BB gun to kill birds, was arrested on Wednesday at a tattoo parlor where he was working in Terre Haute (teh-ruh Hoht’), Ind.

We have heard a lot of news over the past weeks and months about escaped inmates and wanted criminals taunting the police through Facebook. Now, it looks like the tables have turn and the police are having the last laugh.

[Source: LA Times]