SANTA MONICA, Calif. – In an effort to eliminate the presence of sexual predators from its Web site, MySpace has partnered with Miami-based Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., a provider of background verification solutions, to create a national database for convicted sex offenders.

News Corp.-owned MySpace announced that by early January it would have an automated system in place to cross-reference registered users’ profiles to the database, which will contain the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders from 46 state sex offender registries. Once identified, predators’ profiles would be deleted by MySpace administrators. There are approximately 593,000 registered sex offenders in the United States.

MySpace is a free social networking Web site that permits individuals to create online profiles for anyone to see. ComScore Media Metrix reports approximately 12 percent of all MySpace users during the month of October were under the age of 18. And according to a recent Wired News report, about 744 of MySpace’s 76 million registered users are registered sex offenders.

Along with the names of registered sex offenders, the monthly updated database will also include physical details such as tattoos, hair color, height and scars. MySpace is also supporting legislation that would require convicted sex offenders to register their E-mail addresses with state and federal authorities, which would be included in its national database.

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