NSW: Wannabe models warned of online predators after assault
26 Mar 2009 2:34 PM
SYDNEY, March 26 AAP - Police have warned aspiring models against turning to the internet to get a start in the industry after a young woman was sexually assaulted.
A 35-year-old Indian national has been charged over the assault.
Police allege he used the online name James Carter to pose as a modelling agent on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.
After chatting with a Sydney woman online, he arranged to meet her, spiked her drink and raped her, police claim.
"In this particular instance, (a meeting) took place in the city. It involved alcohol. And we will allege in this particular instance, it involved drink spiking as well," Detective Inspector Murray Reynolds told reporters in Sydney.
Insp Reynolds said "a stupefying drug" was used to spike the woman's drink.
The man remains in custody but police are concerned other people may have fallen victim to this or similar schemes.
Former model Mink Sadowsky, now a Sydney model agency manager, said the popularity of reality television shows in which young people found instant fame had made others take desperate measures to join the profession.
"Not everyone is going to be appropriate for this industry," Ms Sadowsky told reporters.
"Unfortunately, there may be a percentage of those girls who would still ... pursue that and they're the ones that we're sort of worried about."
She said such girls "may be vulnerable to being approached online" or going to people who offered help with breaking into the industry.
Police want to hear from anyone who may have chatted online with a man calling himself James Carter.
The charged man will face Sydney Central Local Court on April 28.
