By ninemsn staff
Virtual reality world Second Life has become a hub for pedophiles where users can have sex with child characters, authorities warn.
In the computer generated world, where people can reinvent themselves and live a completely different life, childlike avatars are offering sex in playground settings.
A British reporter created a virtual person, known as an avatar, and discovered the dark side of the internet site in a playground called Wonderland.
Child characters controlled by users, who were supposed to be over 18, were offering sex while playing on the swings.
Carol Roken of child abuse agency Bravehearts said this adult fantasy world was disturbing.
"If they are pretending to have sex with a child they are making children sexual objects and that is just not right," she said.
But this is not illegal in Australia, because it is seen as an activity carried out between two consenting adults which does not involve real children.
British police are infiltrating this cyber world by creating undercover characters to track links to pedophile activity in the real world.
"My concern is that when that person steps out of the fantasy world, they actually bring that fantasy with them to the real world," Jim Gamble of UK Child Exploitation Centre said.
Second Life's popularity has soared with nine million users worldwide and 12,000 members in Australia.
Giving paedophiles something to hide behind is what makes this virtual world so dangerous, Marie Fox of Abused Children's Group said.
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