One such user was 27-year-old Edward Stout of Richmond Heights, Missouri.  The "show-me-state" native frequented Xbox LIVE chat rooms and in April, 2008 began sending explicit sexual messages to a 15-year-old Sanger, California teenager.  His chats compelled him to embark on a real world adventure to try to rendezvous with her.

Federal prosecutors arrested Stout after he completed his forbidden quest.  Reportedly he had driven 30 hours almost non-stop to reach his teenage chat buddy.  He was placed under arrest for engaging in sex acts with a minor and crossing state lines with the intention of committing a sex crime.

In September Stout pleaded guilty.  He just got sentenced and has received over 10 years in prison.  He will also be subject to lifetime supervision and have to register as a sex offender.

With more and more children and teenagers frequenting social networking sites and online gaming, predators are increasingly attempting to use these venues to try to make connections.  Law enforcement has been struggling to step up efforts to try to police these networks. 

No one knows exactly how many predators there are in the U.S., but the recent television miniseries To Catch a Predator indicated that there's a disturbingly high number of predators lurking on the internet and that recidivism is extremely high.  The show also showed that predators came from all walks of life, with even members of law enforcement nabbed.  The one thing they had in common was that they were almost exclusively male.