Joisey Cop 'Got Wood' (Philly Confidential)

Joisey Cop 'Got Wood'

Let me begin this post by apologizing to Philly Confidential's long-suffering readers. Simone, the hipster-half of our team, tells me that she has increasingly been running into people at parties and other social functions (as a father of two, "social functions" for me involve playgrounds and Toys 'R Us) who claim to enjoy reading this blog.

My first thought was, "What the hell are they reading? We never update the bloody thing." And, well, sorry about that. From here on out, we're going to faithfully devote more time to updating this page, much in the same way O.J. has devoted his life to finding the real killers. Oh. Wait a tick...

Anyway let's kick off this new era with a story from earlier this week -- because nothing says "fresh and new" like a story from two days ago!

I always enjoy getting e-mails from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office every time they nail another child predator who prowls for new victims on the Internet.

This week, the AG's undercover agents say they bagged themselves a wolf in sheep's clothing. An icky excerpt:

EDWARD BERZINS needed a shower. A cold shower, to be specific.
It was late in the afternoon on April 23, and Berzins, a veteran police officer in Gloucester Township, Camden County, was allegedly getting all hot and bothered during a tawdry Internet chat with a 13-year-old girl.

Operating under his online alias, "kickinbaknchillin," Berzins sent an instant message to the young object of his affection - warning that he was going to "stand up n b boxerless," according to a copy of a court affidavit obtained by the Daily News.

Lo and behold, Berzins, 37, stood up from his chair and exposed his manhood while the young girl watched him through the magic of a webcam.

"Def gonna need a cold shower now," Berzins said, according to the court records. "Cuz lol got a wood now, thanx."

One tiny problem: The teenage girl who was receiving the nude videos was a special agent assigned to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Child Predator Unit.

As you can imagine, it gets worse from there. On the bright side, Berzins and 77 other alleged child pervs are off the streets, thanks to the AG's office. On the down side, 1 in 5 adolescents ages 12 to 14 are sexually propositioned on the internet. At this time of year, predators know kids are home from school and, more often than not, mom and dad are at work during the day. Parents reading this: if you haven't had a lengthy talk with your kids about the dangers of Internet predators -- who usually pose as kids themselves -- now would be a good time to broach the topic.

Posted on June 15, 2007 7:05 PM | Permalink

Joisey Cop 'Got Wood'

Comments (128)