Do you worry about keeping your kids safe online? Peter Gulotta from the FBI was live at 11 a.m. Tuesday with tips and resources for you.

Gulotta has been a special agent with the FBI for 31 years. In the mid-1990s, he was assigned to the "Innocent Images" case, a two-year investigation into the transmission pornographic pictures of children aged 2 to 13 via the Internet.

While, Gulotta can't talk about specific cases that the FBI deals with, he can give you general information on what the FBI is doing to protect children online.

Below is a transcript of today's discussion.

washingtonpost.com: Sorry about the delay, folks. We're about to get started. Please welcome Peter Gulotta, and send in your questions about protecting children on the Internet.

washingtonpost.com: Peter, now that more and more children have access to the Internet, how has the need to protect them changed? Has there been more urgency in efforts to protect children from Internet prowlers?

Peter Gulotta: The Internet has created a new tool for pedophiles who seek to lure young children into having sex. The FBI's Innocent Images" undercover operation has resulted in 562 arrests nation-wide since 1995. We need to do more to protect our children from Internet prowlers.

Arlington, VA: Now, the Internet and computers are integrated into the school system. How can children be kept safe from adult sites when surfing is part of their assignment?

Peter Gulotta: Schools generally do a good job of policing the children while they use the Internet in school. We as parents have the responsibility of helping our children stay safe on the Internet. The Parents Guide to Internet Safety is available free of charge to anyone who requests one through the local FBI offices. The guide can be downloaded off the FBI web-site www.fbi.gov

Norfolk, VA: I wonder if you can answer something that I've been baffled by. When doing regular searches on the search engine Excite (excite.com), innocent search terms that have no sexual connotations whatsoever will pull up loads of sexually explicit, pornographic sites in the search results. Excite gives a description of each site, as well as a bit of text from them. Children attempting to do regular searches end up reading X-rated materials through no fault of their own. I'm no fan of censorship, but isn't it illegal for Excite to push this materials at kids? You wouldn't believe some of the explicit materials I've seen Excite pull up from searches for perfectly innocent terms.

Peter Gulotta: I have no earthly idea how that happens. The FBI is concerned about child pornography and the Innocent Images investigation addresses only that. While it is reprehensible that our children have access to adult pornography, the focus of our investigation does not cover this.

washingtonpost.com: You can find "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety" at
http://www.fbi.gov/library/pguide/pguidee.htm.

The FBI also provides Internet safety tips for kids at
http://www.fbi.gov/kids/crimepre/internet/internet.htm.

washingtonpost.com: Can you tell us a little more about the "Innocent Images" initiative? Have you been pleased with its results thus far?

Peter Gulotta: Innocent Images began in 1995. It started as the result of a tragedy involving a 10 year old boy from Brentwood, Md. The young boy was abducted from his neighborhood. He was never found but we found two suspects (never charged in this case) who were routinely using the Internet to lure young boys in the mid-Atlantic region into having sex with them. They were also using the Internet to transmit images of child pornography. The FBI began the investigation to target individuals who are transmitting child porn on the internet as well as those individuals who express a desire to have sex with whom they perceive to be a minor and travel interstate with the intention of having sex with that individual.

Peter Gulotta: Our agents use the screen identity of a young boy or girl and go into what we call "predicated chat rooms". These are rooms where we have received information that people are in those rooms trying to contact children for purposes of having sex. The names of some of the chat rooms will often "self-predicate" the site. That is, any intelligent person would realize that a room called "older men for younger boys" might have pedophiles lurking there. We arrest these individuals when they travel interstate thinking that they are going to meet a child to have sex.

Rockville, MD: Peter:
Can you give a brief outline of what is covered under the statutes and illegal on the Internet? And who does one contact if illegal materials are discovered?

Peter Gulotta: Transmission of child pornography on the Internet is illegal. The mere possession of such pornography is illegal. Our operation targets the transmitters of the child porn. In addition, those individuals who travel interstate with intention of having sex with a minor are targets. There need not be a minor (only the perception on the part of the subject that there is a minor.) If an individual gets on-line and expresses an interest in our undercover agent and travels interstate, they are arrested and charged Federally for Travelling Interstate with Intention of Having sex with a Minor. If they travel within the state, they are charged locally. In addition, the manufacture of child porn and causing a child to travel with intention of having sex is prosecutable.
In the event that you find child porn or that a child is contacted, the local police or FBI should be contacted. The child should alert an adult. Turn the screen off and question the child as to where they were and how they got contacted. We need as much information as possible to follow up with an investigation.

washingtonpost.com: What should parents do if they suspect an Internet prowler is corresponding with their child?

Peter Gulotta: Parents should be frank with their children and explain the dangers to them. Children who have been victimized are almost always troubled kids who are reaching out for someone. Unfortunately, these cyber predators often provide these kids with the attention they seek.
If you suspect your child is in contact with an adult, you need to sit down with them. If we get the screen name of the individual and the screen name of the child, we can often times follow up on the conversation and deal with the individual accordingly. Unfortunately, we have been involved in far too many cases where the subject has actually had sex with a minor child before we arrest them for travelling to meet someone they think is a child.

Peter Gulotta: The problem is getting worse today. More and more children have access to the Internet and are potential victims. We have increased the number of Agents that work on this case and the statistics have increased from year to year. We arrested 126 people nation wide in fiscal year 98 and 209 in 99. We are on our way to surpassing these stats this year.

Arlington, VA: Have you been surprised by the number of cases involving child pornography and pedophiles on the Internet?

Peter Gulotta: Absolutely. It is like fishing in a pond with hungry fish. Every time you throw a line in the water with bait, you are going to catch a fish. Only time will tell how many pedophiles and traders of child porn there are. we certainly don't have agents working these cases sitting around with any spare time.
In addition to the FBI, other Federal agencies and many local police departments are involved in doing much the same as what the FBI does with its 15 task forces throughout the country.

Bethesda, MD: I'm not sure whether or not you have kids, but if you did, would you closely supervise your children's Internet use? How do you feel about preventing children from using the Internet at all? Also, how do you feel about some of the "security" features available for the Web (i.e. Parents can "lock" their kids out of Web sites that contain certain key words)?

Peter Gulotta: I have one child who is now in college. When she asked for the Internet I obliged. I was new to the Innocent Images investigation and didn't talk with her about it. One day, the phone rang and I took a call from a male who asked for my daughter. It turned out it was someone she met on-line. It was a good thing she was not home. I was very angry that she gave out her phone number to a stranger she met on the Internet. I realized shortly thereafter that I should have done a better job in communicating with her. The plumber is the last one to get his pipes fixed and I neglected to alert her to the dangers of the Internet.
Sit down and spend time with your kids. Get the tips from the Parents Guide to Internet Safety (i.e. children should never give out personal information to anyone they meet on the internet) Keep the computer in a public area of the house where you can keep an eye on what is going on. There are many common sense tips to follow.
Do not refrain from buying a computer. It is too good a tool. It is more than a chat device. Encourage the educational usage.
Screening devices can help but are not the ultimate solution. Screening devices don't necessarily keep kids from problem chat rooms. Parental supervision does.

Falls Church, VA: Why do you think Internet prowlers have been so successful with kids? Is this a statement on the unfortunate condition of our society?

Peter Gulotta: Kids who get in trouble are troubled. They look for attention. We teach our kids not to talk to strangers but we don't do the greatest job with discouraging them from chatting with strangers on-line. The kid who thinks they are dealing with another kid may be dealing with a 50-year-old man who lives in the area. There are some in our society that are pathetic in that they would abuse our children. I have been an agent with the FBI for 31 years and the people that do this to our children are among the most despicable that I have seen.

Washington, DC: This is truly a depressing issue. Has it affected you personally? Have you ever reached a point where you just couldn't deal with this work?

Peter Gulotta: This is depressing but we are careful to ensure that our agents are evaluated periodically by our "safeguards group". In any undercover operation, there is always a possibility that the work can cause problems. Are agents are rotated to other assignments after a period to minimize problems that might occur. We all go home at night and hug our kids.

washingtonpost.com: Are there any support services for victims of such Internet crimes? Where can parents and kids go to deal with the fallout of being victimized?

Peter Gulotta: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children might be a good resource. The FBI works with them on a daily basis.

Arlington, VA: Each day I receive unsolicited marketing e-mails--some of them contain some pretty steamy language that shows up in my quickviewer. While I don't have any children, I find it disturbing that children in other households would be subjected to these types of e-mail. Is there no regulation of the content of marketing e-mails?

Peter Gulotta: Talking about sex on-line is not a crime. I have been in court where an attorney who had been charged with travelling interstate to have sex with who he thought was a 13 year old girl, took the stand himself. He told the jury that he got is kicks talking about sex on-line but would never have sex with a kid. He told the jurors (mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc,) that as reprehensible as talking was, it was not a crime. He couldn't convince the jury that his travel from one state to another was innocent. He was convicted. He was not convicted for talking about it.

Peter Gulotta: I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their interest. Get a copy of the Parents Guide to Internet Safety through our local FBI offices or the website www.fbi.gov. Keep a good relationship with your children and spend time with them on the Internet doing things together. Follow these tips and you won't have a problem. I would like nothing better to tell people one day that we have no more cases in Innocent Images but I seriously doubt that will every happen.

washingtonpost.com: Thanks again for joining us, Peter. And if you'd like to continue the discussion on the Internet and the family, check out Jacqui Salmon's "Families...and So On."