Accused cyber-solicitor 'friended' 100 local underage girls
Daniel Widdowfield will appear in court Monday, August 4 for a bond hearing.
COURTESY OF UVA POLICE
Today UVA police announced the arrest of 24-year-old Daniel Wayne Widdowfield, a shop worker for the UVA athletics department, on three felony charges of contacting someone he thought to be a female minor for sexual purposes. Apparently, had Widdowfield been successful in his alleged solicitation, the girl would not have been the first to become acquainted with him.
A look at Widdowfield's profile (log-in required) on social-networking website Facebook.com reveals that, while Widdowfield has yet to be convicted of anything, he counts at least 100 local underage girls among his 219 "friends," including students from Albemarle, Monticello, Western Albemarle, and Charlottesville High School. In fact, according to Widdowfield's profile, a rising sophomore girl from Spotswood High School in Rockingham County became friends with Widdowfield just before noon today, and on Tuesday he "sent a kitten" to a Fluvanna County High School sophomore girl using the site's "Thinking of You" function.
WINA reports that Widdowfield is currently in custody at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
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6 comments
Keep in mind that when a profile has "Albemarle HS", there is a good chance the Facebook member is actually in Middle School. There are age requirements to get on Facebook so all the kids I know in Middle School just lie and put in whatever high school they plan to attend in the future.
Parents need to get on board and be sure they are members of Facebok and MySpace if they are allowing their kids to be part of the entire social network scene. The nice surprise is how innocent MOST of the chatter really is.
Would like to know more about why these kids became friends with this guy.
I'M GLAD THAT HE WAS CAUGHT AND I HOPE HE SPENDS A GOOD DECADE OR MORE IN PRISON.IT'S REALLY A SICK PERSON WHO WANTS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF KIDS,WHO DOESN'T TRY TO MEET SOMEONE THEIR OWN AGE.I THINK PROBABLY IT IS A GOOD THING HE HASN'T MARRIED AND HAD CHILDREN,HE SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT ALONE AROUND CHILDREN.
he is a great dad. things happen and parents should keep a better eye on thier kids!
Maybe Widdowfield and the Charlottesville cop arrested last week (Harry Shaffer) can share a cell together if they are both convicted. How can a cop sexually molest a 5-year-old girl, can anybody answer this question? WTF is wrong with people?
Ohh, excuse me, he is an ex cop now.
guilty until proven innocent ? (i've been away and can't seem to find the final verdict on all these cases i.e., harry shaffer did i
miss something ?) accussation sure are scary ...
"people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones " (not even small pebbles!!)
Correct Cind, people are guilty until proven innocent in today's society. Their picture and name is plastered in every news outlet. But once a "not guilty" verdict comes down the pike, it's not newsworthy all of a sudden. People assume the Harry Shaffers arrested 5 to 10 years ago were convicted and shipped off to pay their debt to society. There's very seldom ever coverage of the trials or the acquittals of criminal defendants. Especially those falsely arrested from the very beginning. It's bad press for the law enforcement agencies. And the media outlets don't want to make these law enforcement agencies mad for obvious reasons, they will stop providing information to the media outlets.