DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150322

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   59 lines

BEACH MAN CHARGED IN RAPE OF GIRL HE MET ONLINE

A 14-year-old New Jersey girl was raped by a Virginia Beach man she chatted with online and agreed to meet while on vacation in Williamsburg, police said.

James F. George, 33, has been charged with rape, forcible sodomy and abduction in Wednesday's attack on the teen-ager, said Capt. Ron Montgomery of the York County sheriff's office.

A friend of George who was in the room did not touch the girl but allegedly took pictures. Police confiscated a roll of film and were having it developed.

Steven J. Davis, 19, of Virginia Beach was arrested Friday based on the girl's statement, and was charged with producing sexually explicit material involving a juvenile, Montgomery said. The felony charge carries a penalty of 1 to 10 years in prison.

This may be the latest example of a rising number of cases in which adults use the Internet or online services to exploit children, an FBI spokesman said Friday.

``Pedophiles . . . can use this as an unlimited access base to get more kids,'' said Larry Faust, spokesman for the FBI's Baltimore office. The office has an ongoing undercover operation to find people who use America Online to recruit minors for illicit sex acts or to distribute child pornography.

The ``Innocent Images'' investigation began after a 10-year-old Maryland boy was abducted in 1993. There since have been 346 searches and 156 convictions nationwide, according to the FBI.

``It's anybody's guess as to how many pedophiles are out there,'' Faust said. ``We've only scratched the surface as far as actually addressing the problem.''

The girl, whose hometown was not released at the family's request, met George in an America Online chat room in June, Montgomery said.

``Whether he told her he was 33, I'm not sure,'' Montgomery said. ``We have additional interviews to do with the victim.''

The girl gave George her telephone number, and they talked by phone, Montgomery said. She told him her family planned to vacation in the area, and they discussed meeting, Montgomery said.

George took a room at the hotel where the family stayed in the Williamsburg area, Montgomery said. The girl went to George's room Wednesday night and was raped, he said.

The girl escaped, returned to her family's room and told them about the attack, Montgomery said. He said her parents had not known about her relationship with the man, or her plans to meet him.

George was arrested later Wednesday at the hotel and was being held on $50,000 bond. A preliminary court hearing was set for Dec. 19.

If convicted, George could face five years to life in prison on the rape and forcible sodomy charges and one to 10 years on the abduction charge, Montgomery said. George also was charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year.

Faust said he could not comment on the York County case specifically. But he said parents need to monitor their children's online activities.

``We tell our kids to lock doors and not accept rides from strangers, but pedophiles can penetrate the sanctity of our home while we are still there,'' he said. ``It's very important that we know what our kids are doing.'' KEYWORDS: SEX CRIME CHILD MOLESTER RAPE

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