Wilmington, DE – Attorney General Beau Biden announced last week the appointment of Josette DelleDonne Manning as the New Castle County Chief Prosecutor at the Delaware Department of Justice. In this position she will provide day-to-day management over the Department’s New Castle County Felony Trial, Drug, Misdemeanor, and Sex Crimes Units. She will report to State Prosecutor Richard Andrews.

Ms. Manning has prosecuted a wide variety of cases, including drug cases, sex crimes, and homicides in the Domestic Violence, Misdemeanor, Drug, Sex Crimes and Felony Trial units. Currently she serves as Assistant Unit Head of the Felony Trial Unit where she has led the effort to establish Community Prosecution in the City of Wilmington. She joined the Delaware Department of Justice in 2000 and was recognized as Deputy Attorney General of the Year in 2006.

A Delaware native, Ms. Manning earned a BS degree from Boston University and a law degree from Widener University School of Law where she was awarded the Graham Foundation Award for service to the Moot Court Honor Society and the Outstanding Service Award for service to the University. She was admitted to the Delaware Bar in December 2000. Ms. Manning resides in New Castle County with her husband and two children.

“Josette will be a great addition to the Delaware Department of Justice leadership team and to the management staff in the Criminal Division,” Attorney General Biden stated. “She is an accomplished prosecutor and we will rely on her experience and ideas in her challenging new position.”

Ms. Manning succeeds Paul Wallace, who has served as New Castle County Chief Prosecutor since December, 2005. Mr. Wallace will head the Department’s Appeals Unit which represents the State of Delaware in all cases before state and federal appellate courts. Mr. Wallace, an 18-year Department of Justice veteran, has handled appeals at every level, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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My Space agrees to enact measures aimed at better safeguarding children on its web site

In another move to protect Delaware’s children from online predators Attorney General Beau Biden joined 49 Attorneys General to announce that social networking site MySpace has agreed to take several specific steps to better protect children who use its web site.

“I sought this office to better protect our children at the playground, in the home, and on the internet,” Attorney General Biden stated. “Predators can use social networking sites like MySpace to do harm to our children. That’s why I’m proud to stand with so many Attorneys General in this agreement with MySpace regarding social networking safety.”

In a victory for social networking safety, Attorney General Biden and 48 states plus the District of Columbia today announced that MySpace has agreed to significant steps to better protect children on its web site, including creation of a broad-based task force to explore and develop age and identity verification technology.

In today’s agreement, MySpace acknowledges that identity authentication tools are vital to protecting children from online predators and inappropriate content and it has agreed to take several specific actions. These actions include commitments to:

Develop an e-mail registry. Parents may submit children’s email addresses to the registry and MySpace will restrict access from users of those addresses Make the default setting “private” for profiles of 16- and 17-year-old users Respond within 72 hours to consumer complaints of inappropriate content or activity and specify the steps taken to address them Dedicate additional resources to better identify and remove inappropriate content and develop monitoring software for parents Establish a 24-hour hotline to respond to inquiries from law enforcement

MySpace will also develop age and identity verification tools and will invite other websites, industry experts, child protection groups and technology companies to participate in that process.

Biden noted that although MySpace is making a commitment to enact specific changes, the agreement leaves the door open for the Delaware Department of Justice to take additional measures if they are necessary to protect users, such as litigation and new legislation.

Attorney General Biden’s participation in this agreement is the latest in a series of actions he has taken to ensure the safety of MySpace users. Twice in 2007, Attorney General Biden issued subpoenas to MySpace demanding information about convicted sex offenders who registered to use that site.

Since taking office in January, 2007, Attorney General Biden has focused his efforts on protecting children. In March, 2007, he created the Delaware Department of Justice Child Predator Unit, with a staff dedicated to pursuing and prosecuting criminals who prey on kids. He led the formation of the Delaware Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that brings together the Department of Justice, Delaware State Police, and federal law enforcement agencies in a united front against online predators and child pornographers. He also fought for the adoption of a tougher sex offender registry law through the Adam Walsh enhancements to Delaware’s Megan’s Law.

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