"Cyber-rape" outlawed: N.J. cracks down on computer-aided crime

Trish Barteck didn't know then that the man had ideas of raping her, as the result of a dastardly chat-room plot. Barteck, now 36, felt uneasy about the stranger and called police. In the months to come, she would learn that one of her in-laws used an Internet chat room to direct the stranger to her house to rape her.

Watch Right Monitoring Software for Parents

Did you Know? Teachers, parents, law enforcement agencies or any website can get our free syndicated news feed for their Home Page at
Watch Right Internet Crimes Against Children Syndicated News Feed

Source APP.com

It was a sunny spring day when Trish Barteck was trimming plants in her front yard in this Bergen County community on April 19, 2002.

The youngest of Barteck's three children, a son, then 2, was by her side. A wooden lawn placard of a New York Mets mascot stood guard.

At the corner, a strange man sat in a white sport-utility vehicle, watching. He knew what to look for, right down to the Mets placard.

Barteck didn't know then that the man had ideas of raping her, as the result of a dastardly chat-room plot. Barteck, now 36, felt uneasy about the stranger and called police.

But in the months to come, she would learn that one of her in-laws used an Internet chat room to direct the stranger to her house to rape her. Barteck subsequently embarked on a mission to see that anyone who would put somebody up to such a deed would be successfully prosecuted.

Her mission was accomplished Tuesday when acting Gov. Codey visited her home to sign legislation (A-2864/S-1429) into law.

The measure, inspired by incidents in Bergen and Ocean counties, makes it a crime to use a computer, the Internet or any other electronic means to induce commission of a crime.

A flaw in the law

When Jonathan Gilberti did just that on April 19, 2002, there was no such law in place. So when authorities learned that Gilberti, an in-law of Barteck, hid behind his computer screen, claimed to be a housewife who wanted to be raped, and gave out Barteck's address, physical description, what she would be doing and who she would be with, they were unsure what crime, if any, they could charge him with.

"Trying to fit a computer crime into a standard sexual assault law was difficult," said Sgt. Michael Nevil of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Computer Crimes Unit, which investigated the incidents in the two counties.

Under the law, which takes effect immediately, there would be no question.

"If this bill was on the books, they could have had a criminal statute to prosecute this individual," said state Sen. Paul A. Sarlo, D-Bergen County, whom Barteck had enlisted to sponsor the new law.