Utah's two top law enforcers, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman, joined other federal, state and local officers in sending a message to those who use the Internet to prey on children: "We are aware of you and we are coming after you."

In a special press conference and panel discussion on Thursday, Tolman announced the official kickoff of the Project Safe Childhood initiative in Utah. The initiative, developed by the U.S. Department of Justice, is designed to focus on fighting the exploitation of children on the Internet.

Also joining the group were FBI special agent in charge Tim Fuhrman, Salt Lake Police Chief Rick Dinse and Tibby Milne, CEO of the Utah Council for Crime Prevention.

With a giant McGruff the Crime Dog standing guard nearby, Tolman urged parents to take a bigger role in monitoring what their children are doing on the computer and who they are chatting with. He also urged those who are struggling with child pornography to seek help or risk facing some serious time in federal prison if they get caught.

Already more than seven men in the past year have been indicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 30 years for enticing minors to have sex or possessing child pornography. Federal officials also announced the indictment this week of three more men found in possession of child porn.

"We will look for every opportunity we can find to warn residents of Utah of the real and dangerous threats facing our children," Tolman said. "Project Safe Childhood also is issuing a warning to predators: We are aware of you and are coming after you. It is the highest priority of my office to find these predators sooner, punish them harder and then watch them closer."

Shurtleff said Utah's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force leads the nation in per-capita arrests of Internet predators with a 100 percent conviction rate. Shurtleff credited the high rate to the diligence of Utah's law enforcement and not necessarily because Utah has any more predators than other states.

Michelle Collins, director of the Exploited Children Unit for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said to date officials have identified some 1,075 children who are the subjects of child pornography. The center's studies show that 35 percent of child pornography is produced by a sexually abusive parent who then posts the pictures online. About 27 percent of the time, the abuser is a neighbor or family friend.

Collins said anyone who suspects child abuse can call the National Cyber Tip Line at 1-800-843-5678. Since the tip line's inception in 1988, reports have gone from 4,000 to more than 70,000 in 2005. Tips are referred to federal and local law agencies.

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