A 23-year-old Gary resident appears shirtless in a photo on his MySpace profile and says he is seeking friends, dating or a serious relationship.

He also wants to have children someday.

Yet a few key strokes away on the state's sex offender registry, it appears the same man is listed as a sex predator convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Elsewhere on MySpace, an 18-year-old registered sex offender from Beverly Shores lists among his interests the ancient Indian book of love and sex known as the Kama Sutra.

Despite the potential threats, registered sex offenders are not violating the law by seeking others on MySpace or other social networking Web sites as long as they are no longer on probation or parole.

"It's like being overweight and working in a candy store," said Porter County Adult Probation Chief Neil Hannon.

Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook provide an ideal environment to trigger inappropriate urges for sex offenders, he said. He compared it to drug addicts who have told him they relapsed simply by being reminded of their drug use by seeing a white line painted down the center of a road.

Hannon is not alone in his concerns. In response to pressure from several states, the operators of MySpace announced recently they will release the names and information relating to about 7,000 users nationwide who are believed to be sex offenders.

The names of 842 users were turned over last month to Illinois authorities, and Indiana is waiting on its list.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued a subpoena in May to obtain the names and other identifying information of convicted sex offenders with profiles on MySpace. Madigan's office said it would share the information with the Illinois Department of Corrections and probation departments across Illinois to determine whether offenders' use of MySpace violates their parole or probation.

The Times found MySpace accounts for what appear to be several sex offenders registered in Lake and Porter counties. The list is partial at best considering a user can register at MySpace or at one of the many other popular social networking sites under a false identity.

Sex offenders are required to continue registering with police for 10 years after they are released from probation and some are required to register for life, Hannon said.

A check of a list of MySpace users provided to the Porter County Adult Probation office found just one registered sex offender still on probation, Hannon said. It was determined the offender has not visited his MySpace account since being sentenced for his crime and thus committed no violation, Hannon said.

The offender's probation officer took the precautionary step of canceling the account.

Lake County Adult Probation Supervisor Angela McFerrin said she knew of no MySpace violations among the sex offenders on probation.

The rules of probation in Porter and Lake counties bar clients from any home Internet use and allow only limited access to the Internet at the workplace. Participation on MySpace or other social networking sites would amount to a violation.

Most Internet usage also is forbidden for sex offenders on parole with the state, according to information provided by Java Ahmed, director of public and media relations at the Indiana Department of Correction.