Police: Search for Online Child Predators Paying Off

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - They're regular people by any ordinary measure - a youth minister, an engineer, a security guard. But six people arrested and charged as online sexual predators in the past 10 days are part of what police call a nationwide explosion of online child exploitation and pornography.

Northern Virginia and District of Columbia police departments formed a joint Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in January. Officers go online posing as 12- and 13-year-old children in Internet chat rooms. Sometimes within minutes a sexual predator tried to solicit the supposed child for sex, Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steve Flaherty said Friday.

"These predators are out there surfing the net for your son or daughter," Flaherty said.

Since January, authorities in the region have arrested nine suspected sexual predators by creating and monitoring fake chat room profiles.

"What's even more disturbing is the fact that the majority of these folks that we arrested were taken into custody at a prearranged location," Flaherty said. The suspects arrived with the expectation of having sex with a young girl, he said.

A youth minister from a D.C. church was one such suspect - arrested Wednesday after a trip to Stafford County. Michael D. Barber, 52, of Arlington, faces one count of attempted indecent liberties with a juvenile, which carries up to a five-year sentence and $2,500 fine, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. He was released Thursday from Rappahannock Regional Jail on a $25,000 bond.

If convicted, Barber and suspects with similar charges would be placed on Virginia's violent sex offender registry.

Part of the problem is relationships through the Internet have become no different than the real world, said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"For millions of parents there's a false sense of security" because they think their children are safe using computers in their homes, Allen said. "When you're online you're in public."

A $300,000 Justice Department grant will fund the regional task force for 18 months, and officials hope to renew the program. So far 37 officers, investigators and federal agents have been trained for the program.

Some suspects who cross state lines to solicit a child for sex could also face federal charges, which carry a stiffer penalty.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)