SEATTLE -- Cyber bullying and Internet luring are crimes that happen to kids in the secrecy of the computer.

Microsoft and the King County Sheriff's Department brought one online computer safety expert to town to reach out to local kids before they become victims.

The seventh graders at Dimmitt Middle School really didn't want to raise their hands and talk about their MySpace or Facebook pages, or to admit they use instant messaging.

But Detective Frank Dannahey could tell he made a connection.

"You look at their faces, you say, 'Who's doing this?' You see the ear-to-ear grin, you know they just don't want to raise their hand and say they're doing something," he said.

Dannahey is an online safety expert with the Rocky Hill, Connecticut Police Department, who's been chasing down cyber predators for a decade.

There are high profile crimes in his home state.

Christina Long was killed in 2002. The 13-year-old girl was the first known case of a child lured through her MySpace page, then murdered.

And in Middletown, Connecticut, seven young girls were sexually assaulted; all of them contacted through MySpace.

Dannahey says the peak age for becoming a victim of an online predator is 14, 15 and 16. So he reaches out to kids who are younger.

"If you can get 'em and get some good habits as they're starting talking about looking at social networking sites and their own Web sites, we have a better chance at getting them to have good habits from the get-go," he explained.

Dannahey encouraged the kids to spread the word about safety. They have the perfect way and the perfect audience -- all of the friends they chat with on the Internet.

For tips on online safety:

• www.staysafe.org
• www.microsoft.com/protect
• www.xbox.com/familysettings
• onecare.live.com/familysafety
• www.netsmartz.org
• www.isafe.org
• kids.getnetwise.org/tools
• safetynet.aap.org