Predators are "social engineers that will groom victims over months or years, and anonymity generally is a must. They're working on multiple kids at the same time. (Predators) can be 100 different people in cyberspace and have ongoing relationships with 30 to 40 kids, sometimes simultaneously."

Because they lack the wisdom that comes with evaluation based on face-to-face contact, children "impose all the positive characteristics they are looking for in a friend on this person they've never met" when they're contacted online.

One of the most frightening developments Knutson is seeing is that, increasingly, victims know the real age of the predator and are willing to meet them. "While kidnapping, rape and murder of children who met a stranger online makes headlines, in the majority of cases, kids who arrange to meet an adult know they're going to meet with them for a sexual relationship," he said.

Predators look for jobs or volunteer posts that place them in proximity to potential victims. They often seek out positions as Cub Scout or Boy Scout leaders, schoolteachers, team coaches, priests or even school crossing guards. "If I had a guy in my ward who was really interested in becoming the Scoutmaster, that's the last job I'd assign him to," Knutson said.

Knutson said parents can learn more about the location of registered sex offenders that live nearby at www.familywatchdog.us — a Web site lists every registered sex offender in any geographic area of the United States.

Besides being aware of their children's activities and forming strong relationships with them, parents, he said, need to ask themselves "what the risk is of your child having a conversation of any kind with anyone they don't know?"

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com