Detective Tim Weinhandl logged into an Internet chat room this week with a screen name hinting at bubble gum and pig tails.

Within minutes his screen filled with potential conversations, including one from an individual looking for a "slave girl to train, use and humiliate."

The Casper Police Department pursued a handful of Internet investigations last year into child pornography distributors and people trying to meet and have sex with minors.

One obstacle to pursuing such cases is that they are time-consuming, Weinhandl said. Local investigators must spend much of their time trying to solve crimes that have already been committed in the world outside computers.

As reported this week in the Casper Star-Tribune, the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation employs three investigators in Cheyenne who spend their time looking for online sex predators and traders of child pornography.

Without resources to have a similar team in Casper, Weinhandl said, investigators look for would-be predators when they have the time or when they are given information about an individual targeting local children.

"How do you measure success?" Weinhandl asked.

Despite the dizzying number of people filling chat rooms devoted to incest or with advice on arranging trysts with minors, Weinhandl is undaunted.

"If we can save just one child" from an assault by arresting a potential attacker, he said, the work has been valuable.

Despite being a mustachioed man sitting in Casper's police station, Weinhandl apparently managed to convince several people who contacted him Tuesday morning that he was a 14-year-old girl.

He used common abbreviations and variations of common words like "kewl." He spelled words correctly, then went back to add extraneous letters here and there to give the impression of being a teenager typing quickly.

One person tried to keep the conversation with Weinhandl going, asking if "she" had "played" with people online. The profile with the screen name showed a picture of a naked man from the waist down.

"He's not letting go," Weinhandl said. "He's wanting to get crazy."

Another conversation opened with a short-hand request for Weinhandl's age, gender and location. "Cool" was the response when Weinhandl said he was a 14-year-old girl.

"He knows I'm 14 and he's saying cool," Weinhandl said, visibly disgusted.

There was little subtlety from those who propositioned Weinhandl on Tuesday morning.

Nevertheless, Sgt. Larry Baker said many people lurking online are able to glean bits and pieces of personal information from the people who reply to them.

Even teens who think they are clever enough to stay out of trouble, Baker said, can accidentally reveal hints of where they live and what they look like if they converse with unknown people online.

Weinhandl broke away from his computer Tuesday morning with several people waiting for his replies.

"We could have three detectives doing this full time," he said.

Reporter Anthony Lane can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or at anthony.lane@casperstartribune.net.