FARMINGTON - It took only seven minutes online for an adult male who believed he was talking to a 14-year-old girl to instruct the girl to engage in obscene acts as well as voyeurism involving family members and older men.

During the next 30 minutes, the man, whose screen name read "daddy56" but who identified himself as a 23-year-old male college student, would also tell the girl what she needed to do to get a date, something involving an older man, and finally, that he was doing something obscene during their entire online conversation.

The exchange was my first trip online posing as a 14-year-old girl to gather information for a story on computer sex crimes. It only took seven minutes to access a "teen" chat room and begin a private conversation with an adult male who believed he was speaking with a child.

After the highly publicized arrest of a Colebrook fire chief for arranging a meeting with a Farmington police detective posing as a 14-year-old boy online, I decided, as a reporter for Journal Register News Service, to see how easy it would be for a child to connect with a pedophile online.

I was horrified by the results. I purposely chose an online chat room that specified it was for teen use and provided a disclaimer that the site is monitored by the Web company and that anyone posing a threat would be blocked from access. It took me approximately two minutes to sign in under a fake name and age and enter the chat room.

Once there, hundreds of comments were continuously scrolling and flashing across the screen. Nearly all mentioned offers for phone sex, requests to exchange nude photos and even engage in sexual Web cam activities where both parties exchange moving video images. Many were looking for girls with "big breasts."

During the entire "private chat" conversation with "daddy56," I maintained the persona of a 14-year-old girl who had entered a chat room for the first time without her mother's permission.

At first, "daddy56" told me he was a college student who chatted online to meet girls. I told him that I wanted to start dating and thought a chat room would be a good way to meet boys. Within three sentences, the "college student" suggested what I needed to do, something obscene involving older men, if I wanted to ever get a date. The entire process took seven minutes.

"Even after going through training and being told it would happen that quickly, I still didn't believe it until I saw it myself," said Farmington police detective Sgt. Marshall Porter, who has been responsible for arresting two online predators in the past four weeks.

"The amazing thing is that it's so easy and it happens so quickly, even despite the publicity on television and locally with the arrests," he said. "Within minutes, you're solicited. And it doesn't stop. There are times when I have to actually shut off the computer to be able to work on a case."

As Porter began his online investigations posing as a young teen, he said one thing became evidently clear: parents have to closely monitor their children's computer use at all times because kids can contact, and be contacted by, anyone at any time.

He said kids don't understand that chat rooms, instant messaging and even e-mails can be tracked and easily seen by anyone. "They just don't understand the concept that whatever you do on the Internet can be seen by anyone," Porter said. "Kids give out personal information and photos. I don't think people realize that even if their child sends someone or posts a picture of themselves fully clothed, that the picture can be altered and the head placed on a nude body and sent out to thousands and thousands of people."

"And studies have shown that most kids will not tell their parents if they have had a conversation with someone who could be a predator. There is no excuse for parents not to be aware how dangerous this is, you have to be a parent and keep controls on the computer," Porter added.

Federal authorities said they have been working actively in the state of Connecticut to arrest online predators who seek meetings with undercover officers posing as children and those who deal in child pornography.

"It's never ending," said Tim Egan, supervisory special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Crime Squad in New Haven. "It's a sickness and we can't stop all of them. But we can educate parents on how easy it is to get in this position."

Egan said his office prosecutes 20 to 30 offenders in Connecticut per year. Egan said about half are arrested for possessing or dealing in child pornography and the other half are predators who have arranged online to meet officers posing as children in Connecticut.

"It's so vast that we have to stick to those who potentially would abuse a child by arranging an actual meeting," Egan said. "We have federal, state and local law enforcement officials on the task force working together and it's nonstop."

"It's so large-scale because you don't have to stand in the park with a trench coat anymore," Egan said. "It's all right there on the Internet."

The U.S. Justice Department announced last week that they are partnering with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Ad Council to create public service announcements targeted at warning teen girls about the dangers of posting and sharing personal information online.

According to Justice Department information, about 58 percent of girls ages 14 to 18 have been approached online by someone requesting a face-to-face meeting.

Porter said despite the highly publicized arrests of Colebrook Fire Chief John Boutin and Springfield, Mass. swim team president Jeffrey Packard, who both thought they were chatting with a teen boy, his department is still working on several active cases with new offenders cropping up every day.

"We started this a few months ago with a computer donated by Farmington Savings Bank and I'm still shocked at how easy it is," Porter said. "Even though they told me, I still didn't believe it until I saw it for myself. The reality is this is happening in any chat room and any perversion is just a mouse click away. Parents need to know that kids can't differentiate between what's dangerous and what's not. They as parents need to take control."

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