Police in New York recently arrested four alleged online chat room sex predators who arranged to meet a girl they thought was 14 years old. The girl they chatted with was the reigning Miss America.

Lauren Nelson, Miss America 2007. (File Photo)

Police in New York recently arrested four alleged online chat room sex predators who arranged to meet a girl they thought was 14 years old. The girl they chatted with was the reigning Miss America.

Lauren Nelson, 20, agreed to the undercover sting operation and officers with Suffolk County's computer crimes unit created an online profile of a 14-year-old girl that included photographs of Nelson as a teenager.

Nelson posed as a young teen online and went into chat rooms, where she said men would begin sending her instant messages asking her how old she was and where she lived.

"I would say I'm a 14-year-old female from Long Island. Sometimes they would say,¡®You're too young, sorry,¡¯which is exactly what needs to happen, but some would continue chatting. It would only take a matter of time before it got pretty explicit.

"I got to chat online with the predators and made phone calls, too," she continued. "The Suffolk County Police Department was there the whole time."

Nelson then arranged to meet the men at a home in Long Island, where police and camera crews were waiting.

The operation was filmed for a segment of "America's Most Wanted" that will air Saturday on Fox. Police spokesman Tim Motz said the operation was ongoing and declined to comment Tuesday evening.

At least four men were arrested and face charges, said Avery Mann, a spokesman for the show. Another six men agreed to meet Nelson, he said.

"The story was that they knew I was 14, and I told them I was cutting school to meet with them," Nelson said. "I stood outside on the porch, and I would say,¡®Hi¡¯to them and wave them inside."

Once she entered the home with the suspect, Nelson said, she left the room, and police and "America¡¯s Most Wanted" host John Walsh confronted the suspect.

"As many as we caught on that day, there are a lot more out there," Nelson said. "It's nice to know that they were chatting with police officers and me rather than a 14- or 15-year-old girl."

Editor: Donald