Pedophiles lure kids in virtual online world

Authorities in the United Kingdom are tracking child sex predators on virtual online fantasy sites like Second Life, where realistic 3-D video "games" include rape dungeons and sex playgrounds for kids.

On these sites, investigators say, "avatars," or virtual personalities, are created where fantasies, including sexual ones, can be acted out in realistic fashion.

Games such as 'Second Life' feature avatars who often engage in sexual activity

On Second Life, where some 7 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 24 regularly visit a virtual world, there is an area called "Wonderland," where children can be seen in a playground offering sex. Other areas offer characters a chance to rape women in clubs and dungeons.

In 1998, police in the UK broke up a private Internet club called "Wonderland" where more than 200 pedophiles in 13 countries had exchanged about 750,000 images of child sex abuse.

The Second Life site was created in 2003 in San Francisco and hosts advertising from major corporations including Coca Cola, eBay and Vodafone.

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Authorities in England are debating whether to outlaw computer-generated imagery of child abuse, hard-core porn and torture scenes. They believe people using the virtual world, especially pedophiles, might be led to carry out some of these activities in real life.

The child exploitation and online protection center in England yesterday set up a behavioral analysis unit designed to get into the minds of pedophiles stalking such sites.

"In a lot of ways, the presence of sex as an aspect of creative expression and playful behavior in a place like this is healthy, because it indicates we're doing something right," explained Philip Rosedale, founder and CEO of Linden Lab, the company that develops and operates Second Life. "The presence of sex is also a sign that people are engaging with the community and with each other, and connecting with each other as human beings, he added.

While sex in Second Life is prohibited in public areas, it is permitted in private ones and "sex clubs." It usually begins with text chat. Participants may describe what they are thinking in graphic terms. Linden Lab is also testing voice integration into Second Life for more realism.

Users can also buy outfits and many dress their "avatars" provocatively – or not at all. Since avatars have no genitalia, it must be purchased.

One of Second Life's many bordellos is a replica of Bill Clinton's Oval Office. Visitors are offered a cigar upon entering.

German authorities are also investigating simulated child molestation and real child pornography in Second Life. Linden Lab officials said they are cooperating in the probe that began when a TV station claimed to have downloaded real kiddie porn from Second Life.

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