The kids heard about grown men, some who look like grandpas, who pose as teens on the computer.

They heard about these men becoming "friends" with kids, asking to meet them and then showing up with a rope, duct tape and condoms in their car trunk.

They heard about Internet predators who had strangled one 13-year-old girl and raped and tortured another one.

It was quiet in the auditorium of Conestoga Valley Middle School when one student raised his hand to ask a question.

"Why would someone want to do something like that to a kid?"

State Attorney General investigator Dennis Guzy has been in law enforcement for 32 years. He shook his head.

"I wish I knew," he said. "There is no answer."

But there is plenty of danger out there for kids on the Internet, state Attorney General Tom Corbett told about 625 students at the CV Middle School today, as he presented "Operation Safe Surf" to them.

"Criminals out there are using computers to talk to you," he said, "people who shouldn't be talking to you."

Today's predators do not lurk around playgrounds or on dark street corners. They can easily meet their victims online, and lure them into dangerous situations from there, Corbett said.

How easily?

Corbett asked the kids in the audience to raise their hand if they had a computer at home. Almost every hand shot up.

Then he asked the kids to raise their hand if they had an account on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook, which allows kids to post photos and other personal information on their own Web page. Lots of hands shot up.

Corbett told the story of how his agents took the name of a real girl in the Harrisburg area who had such a Web page.

Within a short time of noodling around on a computer, attorney general agents knew the girl's age, where she lived and what school she attended. They knew she played field hockey and could find her school schedule online, to see where her games would be. They figured out where she lived and even drew a map to her house.

"Predators have taught us how to find you," he told the students during the "Safe Surf" program, which he debuted in 2006 and has presented to more than 140,000 students, parents and teachers across the state.

"When it comes to the Internet," he said, "we need to look out for ourselves and others around us."

Here was his advice to students:

• Make sure you know who you are chatting to online.

• End communication with anyone who talks to you about sex or presses you for identifying personal information. Tell a parent or teacher about this.

• Don't post personal information online that would allow a predator to find you.

Corbett asked the students to stand if they had a social networking account and were 12 or 13 years old.

"These are the cheaters," he told the teachers, noting that MySpace users are supposed to be 14 years old.

"If you did it, what about the people you are talking to?" he told the students, noting that other people can falsely pose on the Internet as well.


Staff writer Cindy Stauffer can be reached at cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024.