One study estimates that at least one in seven minors has received some kind of cyber solicitation, according to Craig Haller of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, an arm of the Justice Department. And another study found that a significant number of adults who want to find a child to exploit are going online, he said.

So public and private groups across the nation are fighting back. Last week, officials in Utah launched Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to combat sexual exploitation of children.

Local, state and federal agencies and community groups will work together to investigate and prosecute offenders, as well as educate the public about protecting youngsters from victim- ization.

"The Internet doesn't respect jurisdictional boundaries and law enforcement agencies can't mind either," Haller said at the kickoff in Salt Lake City of the project.

U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman agreed.

"We live in a difficult time, one in which on a daily basis predators are trolling the Internet looking for victims," Tolman said.

He said some of the offenders are creating and distributing child pornography, while others are looking in chat rooms for minors willing to meet them for sexual activity.

In addition to urging parents to be vigilant about their children's activities on the Internet, the group had a warning for offenders: "We are aware of you and are coming after you."

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the state already has been aggressively pursuing offenders through its multiagency Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which has nabbed numerous people who arranged sexual encounters with underage youths over the Internet or distributed child porn- ography.

And Timothy Fuhrman, special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City office, said tough federal statutes and enhanced penalties are keeping predators behind bars longer.

"We all recognize the tremendous resource the Internet has become," he said.

Unfortunately, Fuhrman added, that resource also is being used by predators to help them commit their crimes.

Michelle Collins, director of the Virginia-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said her organization received 4,500 reports of possible crimes in 1998, the year it began operating its CyberTipline.

In just one week earlier this month, she said, the center received about 3,000.

pmanson@sltrib.com