[Cooper:] Welcome back. I'm Anderson Cooper. Well, the Internet may not have become the money maker a lot of dot-com companies had hoped. It has certainly become a huge success among those looking for love, or at least lust. Chat rooms are packed, dating services rake in the bucks, but when you're looking for that certain someone online, do you really know who you might end up with? In our "In-Depth Report," Stephanie Gorin of affiliate WPTZ checks out one little known dating service only convicted criminals need apply for.
[Stephanie Gorin, Wptz Correspondent:] Alex is looking for a single woman to hook up with. Jose wants a good woman with an open heart. And Guy is looking for friendship, and possibly more. Online dating service? Not exactly. Alex tried to kill someone. He's doing time at the prison in Raybrook. Jose is a murderer, in for 22 to life. And Guy, he may spend the rest of his life at the prison in Malone. Just three of more than 1,000 inmates reaching out to you on a Web site called CyberspaceInmates.com. A wooden cross marks the spot where nine years ago a mother of three was raped and murdered. Sometimes there are yellow roses here. They were Susan Anderson's favorite.
[Athena Mousseau, Murder Victims' Friend:] I will never get over this.
[Gorin:] Athena Mousseau lives with the painful memories of her friend's death every day. She says the only thing that gave her comfort was when the judge sent the man who murdered Susan to prison for life, locked away where he couldn't cause more pain, or so she thought.
[Mousseau:] Oh, my God, to look at his face.
[Gorin:] The face of a killer. This is Scott Getty's Web page, posted for the world to see. His description of himself makes Athena cringe.
[Mousseau:] I'm an artist, a poet. Passionate. I'm a Christian. Oh, my God.
[Gorin:] It reads almost like a personal ad, and Getty is just one of more than 1,000 prisoners across the country looking for pen pals on the Web. But inmates in New York, Vermont and most states are not allowed on the Internet. So how is this possible?
[Jonathan Gradess, Ny Defenders Association:] Inmates have an absolute First Amendment right to correspond.
[Gorin:] With the help of a Missouri minister named Renee Molti, they can reach out on a site called CyberspaceInmates.com. [on camera]: Here's how it works. Inmates send their information to Molti, and then she acts as a sort of middle man. For a small fee, she posts their pages and even encourages people on the outside to write directly to them, or she says send her an e-mail, she will print it out and send it for you. She calls it rehabilitation through correspondence.
[Gradess:] They should be allowed to be on the Internet, they should be allowed to put their message up.
[Gorin:] Jonathan Gradess fights for prisoners' rights and says a site like this is valuable, linking inmates to the world beyond the bars. He says forming friendships, staying connected can help with rehabilitation
[Gradess:] Imprisonment is supposed to be a deprivation of liberty, it's not supposed to be a dungeon, it's not Devil's Island. We don't throw away the key and lock people in a wet cell with rats and insects to make their life more miserable.
[Gorin:] But don't tell that to Athena Mousseau.
[Mousseau:] That man who has murdered Susan Anderson is now able to communicate with other women. Now, how can that be fair?
[Gorin:] And according to the Web site itself, every inmate listed gets mail. The site reportedly gets thousands of hits each week. Athena points out Getty doesn't say what he's in for. Now, you can find that out through the Department of Corrections' Web site, but Athena fears most people won't.
[Mousseau:] I have visions of him meeting somebody on the Internet and then marrying somebody and harming them. I think he's trying to suck in another victim.
[Gorin:] A victim like her friend, Susan, a bridesmaid in Athena's wedding, a mom who loved to cook and garden.
[Mousseau:] He stabbed her seven times and he raped her and he left her
[Cooper:] Well, reporter Stephanie Gorin has continued to follow the efforts in New York to shut down this Web site. She joins us live now from the WPTZ newsroom in Plattsburgh. Stephanie, thanks for joining us. Interesting report. I understand there has now been a petition drive to actually close down this Web site. What's the latest on that?
[Gorin:] There has been. The petitions are all across the region, all across the Champlain Valley. Two thousand signatures on them already, and those behind the drive plan to bring these signatures to Albany in April trying to get lawmakers to change the law, get inmates off of these sites. Now, the problem is, lawmakers have a lot on their plate, an $11 billion budget deficit because of 911 and the economy's downturn, so there's really no guarantee that they'll be able to consider an issue like this one.
[Cooper:] And among the people you talk to, the people who do sign that petition, what is their biggest complaint? I mean, there are those who will say, look, it's a prisoner's right to try to meet people or be on the Web. Why shouldn't prisoners be allowed to be on the Web?
[Gorin:] Well, they don't think they should have this kind of access to the Web and to communities out there. They say that anybody can access this, including children who can just click on the link and send an e-mail. In addition, inmates are asking for money in some cases for legal appeals. But of course, the biggest part of this is that the families are worried that the prisoners are going to use the Web as kind of a new stomping ground to hunt for more victims.
[Cooper:] You mentioned money. Let's talk about the money angle a little bit. You mentioned in your report that the woman who started this Web site does receive some money from the prisoners for posting up their listing. Is that what this is about for her? Is this a money making effort on her part?
[Gorin:] Well, she says no. She says she does this because she's had friends who were wrongfully imprisoned, and she says that we really need to treat inmates with respect, because a lot of them will get out and will some day be our neighbors. Now, is she getting rich? Well, you would think she is. She charges $10 an inmate per month. Now, you do the math. There are thousands on her site. You would think she would be bringing in a lot of dough, but she says that that is not the case at all. She says many of them can't afford to pay her. They're inmates, they don't have extra cash lying around, so they'll send her pennies or they'll send her cigarettes or stamps, anything of value that they do have, and she says she will leave their sites online for that.
[Cooper:] I can only imagine what the prisoners send to her. Stephanie Gorin, WPTZ, appreciate you joining us. Thanks very much. Interesting report.
[Gorin:] Thank you.
[Cooper:] Thank you. AMERICAN STORIES will be right back.
[Richard Quest, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever next from "Across the Pond?" A panda with a mission of manhood in Mexico. A Catholic priest has taken to calling himself God's Rapper. He's pumping out the rhythms, laying down the tracks. Don't go away, AMERICAN STORIES right back in a moment.