From Got Frag comes word of a disturbing incident.

A 52-year-old man who helped manage the Green Berets, a competitive video game clan, was busted by police in London, Ontario following accusations that he solicited obscene pictures of young boys he recruited for the Green Berets' Counter-strike team.

The London Free Press reports that George "Spike" Finley, found guilty of possessing child pornography in 2005, was charged with violating the terms of his probation by having contact with minors.

It is alleged that Finley recruited 10 to 13-year-old boys to help manage the Green Berets, advising them to lie about their ages to seem older. Finley then used the popular voice chat program Ventrilo to solicit nude pictures from the boys. The convicted pedophile promised the boys PC hardware and promotions to clan leadership positions as enticements. Potential victims who refused Finley's overtures were dropped from the team.

The leader of the Green Berets, 24-year-old James O'Connor became suspicious after several former members complained to him about Finley's scheme.

"Those children would come to me with crazy accusations..." said O'Connor. "George went on to tell us that this person was just making up the meanest things possible to get back at him for being removed from the team. This whole thing, about George possibly being a pedophile... seemed almost inconceivable. I didn't believe it at first."

After suggesting that one of the boys record the Ventrilo conversations, however, O'Connor and other clan officials turned the matter over to law enforcement authorities.

"Similar situations kept occurring every other month or so for about 4 months," said O'Connor. "I would ask these children for logs of IRC chat and they would always say that they never had any. George was careful to only talk about his perversions on Ventrillo."

GP: Coupled with January's Xbox Live pedophile incident, it's clear that some online predators are turning to multiplayer gaming venues as a source of potential victims.

A shout-out to GP reader Steven Strasser for the story...

The Associated Press is reporting that police have arrested a 26-year-old California man on charges he molested a 14-year-old boy he met through Microsoft's popular Xbox Live service. Xbox Live is the exclusive host for online game play involving the Xbox and Xbox 360 systems.

Ronnie Brendan Watts of Placerville did not enter a plea during a Wednesday court appearance. He will appear before a Sonoma County judge on January 20th. Watts was arrested by the Santa Rosa P.D. last month after the teenage victim told his mother about the molestation. According to a press release on the police department's website, Watts is being charged with the following California statutes: Sending Harmful Matter to Seduce Minors; Lewd Act upon a Child; and Using Minor for Sex Acts.

Watts made contact with the boy on Xbox Live in October or November. Their contacts ultimately included e-mails and pornographic videos sent by Watts. The boy eventually gave the suspect his contact information, leading to a meeting in a Santa Rosa park where the alleged molestation took place.

After learning of the complaint, investigators searched Watts' home, seizing his Xbox and a laptop PC, along with a variety of cameras. Watts is currently free on bail.

GP: Keeping kids safe from online predators has been a major concern for parents and law enforcement officials for years. Now, as Internet connectivity rapidly progresses beyond the PC to game systems like the Xbox, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS, it's more important than ever for parents to understand and discuss the dangers of the online world with their kids. A number of government-sponsored resources for keeping kids safe online are listed here.