
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993                   TAG: 9309010050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PEDOPHILES SEEK KIDS BY COMPUTER

Parents should keep a close eye on young computer junkies to ensure they're not being contacted by pedophiles via electronic mail, Justice Department officials warned Tuesday.

While no federal cases have been made against people using the latest technology to find unsuspecting youngsters, state cases have been brought, they said.

Robert Flores, senior trial attorney with the department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, said the department is not trying to scare the public. Rather, it wants parents to be careful about what their children read on computer bulletin boards.

Parents should be aware "that there might be people out there looking to harm" young computer users, Flores said. Adults should contact officials with evidence of those using the technology to contact children for illicit purposes.

The officials also called attention to computer bulletin boards established by people distributing child pornography. With help from Customs Service and Danish officials, the department has brought charges against six men who received such material and are working on other cases.

Those networks were based in Denmark, but George Burgasser, acting chief of the section, said officials believe there are similar U.S.-based bulletin boards.

The officials said the problem of large-scale commercial child pornography largely ended in the late 1980s. "Unfortunately, we're back to square one" with the new technology, Flores said.

by CNB