This comes coutesy of KOMOTV.com in Seattle Washington:
13-year old Adam Epstein sees the online gaming world as his virtual playground. Log online, put on the headset, and Epstein is talking to and playing with five million gamers around the world.
"People are from Ohio, Kansas, and I'm in Washington. You can just talk to each other really clear," Epstein said. "I've met people as far away as Russia."
It's just a game to Adam, but Detective Tim Luckie with the Seattle Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit says it can be a dangerous one.
"We're really concerned," he said. "Our problem is parents don't see this as a threat yet."
Luckie says online games are the new frontier for sex predators. They use it to disguise themselves as teenagers, connect with children, and target their next victim.
Online gamers in at least three different states are accused of using the Internet to lure children. In California, police say a 26-year-old man molested a young boy he met through an online game. In Utah, a brother and sister are accused of luring a teenager from Kansas. Here in Seattle, a California man is suspected of raping a teenage girl met while playing online.
"She provided enough information, personal information for this individual to identify where she went to school at which point he came up here from California, met her at a hotel and she became a victim," Luckie said.
The cases don't surprise experienced gamer Tom Parker.
"You can do whatever you want once you're in a game," Parker said.
Parker and fellow gamer Craig Hagman point to a popular role playing game as an example. It includes a virtual social room where strangers can talk to each other through the characters.
"I'm playing this little cute girl character and I've apparently attracted 3 admirers right here," he said, pointing to male characters approaching his character. "A lot of people take advantage of the anonymity and do whatever they want."
Within minutes players asked for "strip shows on camera," pornography, some even offered game points in exchange. When Hagman tried to start a chat, one player responded by offering "sexual favors."
"This game brings out the bad stuff because it's more casual social," Hagman said.
Another popular game disguises the voice of players. Police say predators use that feature to make themselves sound like teenagers. More sophisticated voice changers can make an older man sound like a young boy.
"They're very cheap, they can buy them anywhere," Luckie said. "(Predators) are able to communicate for a prolonged period of time with these users who are children and groom them."
Microsoft, the maker of Xbox has a "safety team" in place to crackdown on players who act inappropriately online.
Aaron Greenberg, the group product manager of Xbox Live, says players are able to file complaints online. Thousands are investigated everyday to keep children safe.
"Every single complaint we follow up with," Greenberg said. "In cases where we find them saying inappropriate things we will ban them from the service. We've banned tens of thousands."
The game console also comes with a parental control feature that allows parents to decide what games they play, who they play with, who they talk to, and who views their gamer profile.
Adam's mother Karen Epstein admits she did not know about that feature. When she opened Adam's on-line account, she handed over the setup to him.
"I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know much at all," she said. "It's tough, it's tough with that headset on."
Now that she knows how to protect Adam she plans to use it, and has this warning for all parents.
"Just be aware. Be aware. For the safety of your children. Be aware."
But Luckie warns most children don't report online abuses because they're afraid their games will be taken away if they say something. The advice from police? Parents need to take control, so predators can't get to their children.
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