Facebook has now proven instrumental in identifying the culprit in a burglary in which two diamond rings were stolen from one Pennsylvania woman's home.

How did Facebook get into the mix? Because the thief decided to take a break during his break-in and figured he'd check his Facebook account using the computer in the victim's house.  That's stupid enough, but then the crook didn't even bother to log out of the site before leaving the house. The victim immediately put it all together (really, how could you not?), and police were able to use the identity of the alleged perpetrator -- one Jonathan G. Parker -- to track him down in short order.

The rest of the investigation is relatively straightforward: Cops found Parker through a friend, discovered an acquaintance whom Parker had asked to be part of the burglary, and ultimately tracked down Parker himself. He's now in custody on $10,000 bail and facing up to 10 years in prison if he's convicted for the crime. Social networks continue to be a major part of legal news of late. Australia is using Facebook and MySpace to send legal subpoenas. And crooks now regularly case Twitter in order to figure out when potential victims are going to be away from their homes.

Stick to cleverthingies... we're the good guys!

Jonathan's profile was a bit of a giveaway...

This story was suggested by Cathy. Thanks again Cathy xxx

The original was here