Oz police warn wannabe models against web predators

Sydney, March 26 (ANI): The Australian police have warned aspiring models against web predators, after a 35-year-old Indian national has been charged with sexually assaulting a young woman in Sydney.

Cops have revealed that the man used the online name James Carter, and posed as a modelling agent on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

They allege that he arranged for a meeting with the woman after chatting with her online, spiked her drink, and raped her.

"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," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Detective Inspector Murray Reynolds as telling reporters in Sydney.

According to the inspector, "a stupefying drug" was used to spike the woman's drink.

While the police currently has the accused in its custody, they fear that other people might have also fallen victim to similar schemes.

Former model Mink Sadowsky, now a Sydney model agency manager, blames the popularity of reality TV shows, wherein several young people have found instant fame, for making others take desperate measures to join the profession.

"Not everyone is going to be appropriate for this industry," she 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.

Mink added that girls "may be vulnerable to being approached online", or going to people who offered help with breaking into the industry.

The police are urging any person, who might have chatted online with a man introducing himself as James Carter, to come forward.

The accused will face Sydney Central Local Court on April 28. (ANI)