Vierthaler, who investigates Internet child porn crimes as part of the Montana Cyber Crimes Task Force, said Congress has beefed up laws and prison sentences for sex offenders and that the FBI is pursuing cases.

But the problem is big, Vierthaler said. "I think we're catching a small percentage" of offenders, he said. That's why it's important to educate parents and youth about the risks of using the Internet, he said.

Vierthaler was one of several speakers Friday at the Community Resources Networking Fair, held at the Garfield Elementary gym in recognition of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. A number of community service and law enforcement agencies staffed informational booths for the public and shared information with each other. The program also featured presentations by the Montana Meth Project and Billings Municipal Drug Court and a self-defense demonstration by Champion Jui Jitsu School. The fair was sponsored by the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office, the Billings City Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI.

The FBI created the Montana Cyber Crimes Task Force in 2001 because the agency "was being inundated with child pornography referrals," Vierthaler said.

Vierthaler investigates child pornography cases by posing as a minor child online in chat rooms, where he is contacted by predators. The crimes include receipt, possession, manufacture and distribution of child porn and coercion and enticement. The coercion cases are nicknamed "travelers," because they involve people who, after chatting with someone they believe is a minor online, travel to locations to rendezvous for sex.

Surveys of 1,500 youth in 2000 and 2005 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that 34 percent of youth reported contact with strangers on the Internet, down from 40 percent in 2000, Vierthaler said. While that's encouraging, 34 percent is "still way too many," he said.

The surveys also found that in 2005, 30 percent of youth had visited chat rooms, down from 56 percent in 2000. Vierthaler called it "chilling" to have 30 percent of youth visit chat rooms. "You cannot find a more dangerous place for a youth to be than in a chat room," he said.

Vierthaler said the legal definition of child pornography is a minor under the age of 18 engaged in a sex act or a lascivious display of genitals or the pubic area. Adult pornography or child erotica is not illegal. Pursing child porn cases can be difficult because, as a practical matter, it can be tough to distinguish a 16-year-old from a 19-year-old, he said. But a growing number of cases involve young children, even infants, he said.

To give the audience an idea of child erotica, Vierthaler showed a photograph of two teenage girls, one 17 and one 14, both wearing skimpy bikinis and in provocative poses. Then he asked whether the images would be child porn if the bathing suits were removed. The photo of the 14-year-old, who was posed standing and looking over her shoulder, would be a tough call, he said. "I don't know."

The photo of the 17-year-old, who was posed with knees spread on a beach, would be considered lascivious, he said. But because of the age issue, investigators probably would not pursue it as child porn. He also showed similar images of teenage boys in bathing suits.

New trends for distributing and sharing child porn employ the use of file-sharing software, like Napster, which youth use to share music and movies. Youth can end up getting and distributing child porn, Vierthaler said. Four of the past five warrants the task force has executed have involved juveniles between the ages of 13 and 15 using file-sharing systems, he said. Cell phones and digital cameras also make it easier to distribute pictures that meet the definition of child porn.

Another trend is the use of Internet social networks to exchange personal information. MySpace is the most common social network. Youth may be tech-savvy but are "incredibly naive about what the Internet really is," Vierthaler said. Youth, he said, don't think about the Web's reach when posting personal information. "It just doesn't get any better than that" for predators, he said. "Young people don't understand that."

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