Byline: NICOLE MORGAN
PORTSMOUTH -- By Nicole Morgan
The Virginian-Pilot
PORTSMOUTH - Just before he was arrested Wednesday, Don Gary Castle was sitting in a Portsmouth public library having an online chat with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.
Castle, a 27-year-old construction worker from the 2000 block of East Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk , was talking about video games that night. But previous conversations had been sexual, authorities said.
John C. Blankenship, a detective with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office posing as a boy, had his first online contact with Castle in November, said Deputy Robin Kocher, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.
On Wednesday, Blankenship drove three hours from Spotsylvania County in hopes of arresting Castle, Kocher said.
Blankenship, who handles online sex cases for the sheriff's office, was able to locate Castle in Portsmouth by identifying the Internet server where the conversations took place, Kocher said.
Blankenship sat in a car outside the Cradock branch of the Portsmouth Public Library, at 28 Prospect Parkway .
He turned on his laptop and began chatting online with Castle.
During their conversation, the detective asked Castle to "hold on" as he left the conversation for a while, Kocher said. Then Blankenship, his partner, and Portsmouth police officers went in the library to make the arrest.
Castle was charged with two counts of using a computer to solicit sexual acts with a minor and one count of attempted indecent liberties with a child , according to a police report.
He is being held in Rappahannock Regional Jail with no bond .
The incident has left city officials wondering whether anything more can be done to prevent potential sexual predators from using public computers.
But it's often difficult to stop someone if they have a criminal intent, said city spokesman Kenneth Wheeler .
The library has guidelines for people who come in to use computers, he said. People must sign in and agree to rules, which include not using the computers for illegal or obscene purposes .
Though librarians don't monitor each customer's online usage, they inform law enforcement authorities if they notice suspicious activity, he said.
The city has computers in each of its four library branches. Students come in to use them for homework; others use them for e-mail, researching family trees and countless other functions.
Over the past two years, Wheeler said, the machines have been used more than 100,000 times. "It's a very important public service that we provide."
Protecting other library customers from unwelcome activity is also a priority, he said.
"I think we'll take a good look at our policies to see if anything needs to be changed as a result."
* Reach Nicole Morgan at (757) 446-2443 or nicole.morgan@pilotonline. com.
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