"It's not a situation where every day they are going out and searching," he says. It is more like they view it "and put their hands on their face and say, 'My goodness what am I doing?' Then they dig out and do OK for a while, but six months later it happens again, and they say, 'My goodness what am I doing?' And the pattern repeats," he says.

Pumphrey, a clinical director for LifeSTAR in Southern California, notes that nationally, the No. 2 use of the Internet is to search for pornography, "and No. 1 is genealogy" — so the battle between light and dark uses is everywhere.

But he says looking at pornography is not healthy, especially for young people. He adds that such viewing often creates unhealthy views of sexuality and relationships.

"Elementary-school kids often are getting past blocks to these sites. We're finding it increasingly common for them (elementary students) to go up to other kids wanting sexual favors," he says, blaming it on pornography. "There are 200 new pornography sites that go up each day. It's everywhere."

London, with the Human Studies Center, adds, "There is always the threat of addiction. Sexually oriented sites can become a substitute for relationships."

He adds, "When they spend hours and hours at Web sites and are not working or doing other things with people, it is a real problem. Also for some people, the danger is that with prolonged use, there can be a desensitization. They can start thinking that some things found on Web sites are normal, acceptable behavior, even though by most definitions it is sexually deviant."

London says, "If you follow the golden mean of moderation, you will be a lot healthier and happier than if you don't."

Especially to protect youths, Underhill urges parents to take computers out of bedrooms and put them in public areas such as living rooms. He also urges parents to use software to block unsavory sites.

The recovering sex addict says the same rules should also go for adults. "And you might look for telltale signs of problems, such as someone staying up late to watch TV alone or using a computer where others can't see the screen — or abruptly turning it off when someone approaches."

He also urges adults to help each other by doing occasional full history searches of Internet searches of sites visited. "You need to look for patterns," he says. "Tell people that this is very addictive. I've been in recovery for five years — essentially, I have been 'sober' for five years — but I still struggle every day. It's best to keep away from it and never get into it."

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com