WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- Westminster police have arrested a 21-year-old Colorado State University biochemistry student who allegedly sent nude pictures of himself to a detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl on the Internet.

Bradley Shilling, 22, is accused of promoting obscenity to a minor.

Police think he may be linked to similar incidents across the Front Range from Denver to Pueblo.

Police say the relationship between Shilling and the "13-year-old girl" began on Nov. 9, when he started talking with the girl in an Internet chat room.

"Within three minutes, Shilling was making sexually explicit statements while talking about pictures and sex. Shilling sent his first picture 20 minutes into the conversation," Westminster police said. "Over the course of two chat room contacts, Shilling sent a total of 33 pictures, 15 of which were sexually explicit."

Shilling was arrested Feb. 7 and released pending charges but police are continuing to investigate his online activity to see if he may be connected to other incidents.

Shilling was using the screen name "Bsshilling" and had posted a profile of himself on Yahoo! as a 21-year-old single male student.

The Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force wants to remind parents to take steps to safeguard their children while using the Internet.

For example:

Be sure the computer is in the family/living room -- not in the child's bedroom.

Tell your children not to give any of their personal information on the Internet.

Use a good virus protection program.

Limit the chat rooms your children have access to.

Use parental monitoring and key logging software.

Become familiar with what Internet sites your children are going to

Additional Resources:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Online Safety Project
National Center for Missing and Exploited children
Cyberangels
Pedowatch