Online Predators: Is He Dating You to Get to Your Child?

May 29, 2007 — -- There are so many things to worry about when you start dating. What should I wear? What will he think of me? Is he the one?

But there may be a much graver question to consider: How do you know if a man is only dating you to get to your child?

Last month, nearly 24 million Americans went online to look for love, and as the trend of online dating grows, it may be bringing new dating dangers along with it.

When one single mother, who spoke to ABC News anonymously, met a man online, she thought it was a dream.

"At the time it just seemed magical. It was, you know, the dream come true," she told "Good Morning America."

In six months, they were living together. Two years later, they were married. She later made a terrible discovery: he was molesting her daughter. As soon as she found out, she confronted him on the phone.

"She's 6 years old," the woman said to her husband.

"I know," her husband replied. 'I have no excuse whatsoever. I'm sorry."

It's a crime that is so horrifying, you don't want to believe it. FBI agents said they learned of the man's true intentions when an undercover agent intercepted some of his e-mails during an online chat.

"These e-mails indicated that he actually married the mother to have access to the child," FBI Special Agent Deborah McCarley said.

Police say lonely, struggling women can be easy targets.

In this case, the man used that vulnerability to gain guaranteed access to the innocence of a 6-year-old child.

"I think I was really looking for someone to rescue me although I didn't recognize it at the time," the mother said.

The mother is speaking out for the first time to help other women, but wished to remain anonymous to protect her daughter. She said she had no idea the abuse was happening until the day the FBI knocked on her door.

"That day I felt like somebody stuck a straw in my ear and sucked out my brain. It really just felt like I had been punched in the stomach," she said.