The numbers are scary for parents. One in four teenage girls and one out of every seven boys say they have met strangers through the Internet. As more kids become the victims of online predators, local groups are trying to protect them from danger.

“On January 10, 2006 she logged into her MySpace account for the last time,” Jennifer Hargrove, of the St. Joseph County High Tech Crimes Unit, explained to a group of children. “Two days later, on January 12, she was found murdered.”

This worst-case scenario is used as an example for kids.

The goal isn't to scare them, but to make them smarter about the dangers that lurk online. And they’re taking note.

“I haven't gone on MySpace for a month and a half, because my dad told me not to go on it for a while,” said Rachel Gomez.

Rachel and her family were having problems with inappropriate popups, but that's not the only reason her dad set new computer rules.

“But my concern is that they start speaking to strangers, and that's my primary concern,” Nestor Gomez said of his three kids.

And for good reason — one in five kids has been sexually solicited online.

And at any given moment, experts say 50,000 child predators are online.

But our local law enforcement isn't sitting idly by.

“He asks me my age/sex/location, I tell him I'm 13 years old, a female in South Bend,” Mitch Kajzer explained. “Within one minute of knowing that I'm 13 years old, he starts getting into the sexual discussion.”

Kajzer is an investigator with the St. Joseph County High Tech Crimes Unit. He was referring to an online chat in which he pretended to be a young girl to trap online predators.

“We do proactive investigations, which is going on the Internet undercover, in various places, looking for people targeting children online,” Kajzer explained.

And there is no shortage of people to investigate.

There were 104 investigations in 2003, when the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office started tracking Internet predators.

With the creation of the High Tech Crimes Unit in 2005, the numbers jumped — to 300 last year alone.

“The computer's just a tool for it; a crime's still a crime,” explained Kajzer. “It's just someone using that tool to do it where before it was out in person."

So the High Tech Crimes Unit tracks Internet predators and sets up stings to catch them.

”Right now we maintain a 100% conviction rate,” Kajzer said.

That's something positive he likes to focus on.

“You have to, I mean you can't look at the negative or you'd go nuts doing this kind of stuff,” said Kajzer.

The Gomez family is grateful for the work of the High Tech Crimes Unit, but Dad knows that doesn't mean his work is done.

"I also believe it's up to the parent, and up to the individual to make sure they know what their children are watching," Nestor Gomez said.

That's what Kajzer likes to hear, because even with his success, he's realistic.

“There's still gonna be the bad people out there doing it, we're still gonna be arresting them, but there's no possible way we're gonna arrest everyone,” said Kajzer.

Education is a big part of keeping kids safe online.

Thanks to the High Tech Crimes Unit, last year South Bend Community Schools started using a program called NetSmartz to expose kids to Internet safety at a young age.

So far they're the only school corporation in the state participating in that program.

You can also access NetSmartz online at home for free. Click on the link in the Related Content box.

If you think your child has been contacted inappropriately online, call the Cyber Tip Line at (800) 843-5678. There is also a link to the Cyber Tip Line Web site in the Related Content box.