Internet Heroes Target Sexual Predators

Los Angeles - Organized sexual predators known as "cappers" are making amateur kiddie porn by seducing girls on webcams, secretly recording them, and then sharing the videos.

"There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of these videos out there."

An insider says the cappers go into girls' chat rooms and egg them on, trying to convince them to go further and further on camera.

On one site, cappers bragged that they are the most organized of the "perv sites."

With so many guys secretly recording girls on webcams, a growing counter-group of internet-savvy teenagers has sprung up, warning underage girls of the dangers they're facing. Some call them the "Internet Heroes."

Hero:
"When I see what happens to them, I just feel so bad for them. I've seen girls attempt suicide online. I've seen them cut themselves on camera after they realize they were recorded."

Unfortunately, this hero says that a lot of girls either don't listen... or don't care enough to think about the consequences.

He says the cappers are often master manipulators who share videos and discuss strategies to get more girls on video.

Hero:
"The girls are very vulnerable. Especially the young ones."

Chris Stone has a site called Sticky Drama that he says puts a spotlight on the predators. He says kids need to be warned.

Lawrence Silipigni was recently arrested after a FOX 11 News investigation . He allegedly lured underage girls online by pretending to be one of the good guys and supposedly creating a private room where they could perform without being recorded.

Hero:
"These guys will stop at nothing. And there's a ton of guys like him out there."

One of the big problems, according to the heroes, is that the predators far outnumber them.

The bottom line... it's critical for parents to realize what's happening online behind their kids' bedroom doors.

As one 15-year-old girl who says she learned her lesson the hard way says, "When you think about it... is the price of fame really worth degrading yourself for?"