A new tool designed to thwart Internet predators was unveiled Monday before a group of people most likely to be victims of such crimes — middle school students — in a format most of them will find appealing: a computer game.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Lancaster County District Attorney's Office and software companies were at Wheatland Middle School to demonstrate "Missing," a game that teaches children how to detect predators and safeguard their personal information online.

Developed for children ages 11 to 14 by Web Wise Kids, "Missing" involves finding "Zack," a boy who has disappeared after spending hours in Internet chat rooms.

By examining Zack's personal Web site, e-mails, Web postings and other evidence, children learn he has been abducted by a man he met online. In the process, they also learn the consequences of poor choices online and develop their own guidelines for Internet safety.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, in partnership with Web Wise Kids, is donating 10 "Missing" CD-ROMs to every middle school in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, including 22 schools in Lancaster County.

Teachers will attend training sessions next month on using "Missing," where they will hear about online predators from detectives who investigate Internet crimes against children.

The program is being paid for with a $200,000 grant from Symantec Corp., a computer security software company.

Speaking before a classroom of seventh-graders Monday, U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan said one in five children will receive an unwanted online solicitation and one in 33 will be subject to an "aggressive" solicitation.

"It's the children between the ages of 12 and 14, we have learned, that are the target population" of predators, he told the students.

"Missing" is based on the true case of a boy from Canada who was abducted by a predator who was heading for Mexico with his victim when he was apprehended.

At Wheatland, Katie Canton, Web Wise Kids' "youth ambassador," shared her own tale of being victimized online.

Canton, 21, told the students she was 15 years old and "just hanging out online" when she struck up a friendship with John, a 22-year-old from North Carolina, in a chat room.

John got Canton to share her home telephone number in California and began calling her.

"He gave me his undivided attention for four or five hours, and that was really powerful," Canton said.

"I really got caught up in that."

Soon, they were talking for hours every day and discussing plans to get married, Canton said.

"I was so wrapped up in all this, I really didn't understand what I was doing or getting into," she said.

John told her he planned to move to California to be close to Canton and asked if he could stay in her house until he found a place to live.

When her father learned of John's intentions, he contacted the police department's child Internet crimes division.

Her parents met with an officer, who gave them a copy of "Missing" to play with their daughter.

They had to "drag me kicking and screaming in front of the computer screen to get me to play" the game, Canton recalled.

As she played, "I noticed things that were starting to freak me out," she said. "The predator in the game … was so similar to John, it was scary. There were words and phrases — he was doing the same things as John."

After a heart-to-heart talk with her parents, Canton came to realize that she had been manipulated. And she severed her contacts with John.

A few days later, the police informed her that John was wanted by the FBI for having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl at the same time he was "courting" Canton.

"He sent her the same letters, the same gifts, the same e-mails," she said. "He told her the same things."

Realizing she had been used "was tough to take, but I'm the lucky one in this," Canton said.

"No one knows what would have happened if John came out (to California). He may have kidnapped me. I don't know if I'd be here today."

John was arrested, and Canton went to West Virginia to testify against him. He is now serving 20 years in prison for child rape, she said.

Canton warned the students to take the threat of predators seriously.

"There are people on (the Internet) who are looking for you — and just you. They're not out to find just any young person. They want you. And your parents can't … protect you," she said.

"Take it upon yourselves to protect yourselves, because you are the first and, sometimes, the only line of defense."

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com