HOUSTON -- The News2Houston Investigators in an exclusive story Monday night interviewed a convict who has molested more than 102 little boys.

Caseworkers at the Children's Assessment Center hope that convicted pedophile Mitchell Ray Nicholas can shed some light on all the recent crimes against children that get started online, and show how the Internet helps predators like him find their next victims.

"So I get this picture of this naked boy, and I'm like, 'whoa,'" Nicholas said.

Nicholas, 41, had already been to prison twice for abusing boys. He promised himself he wouldn't touch another youngster, and then he bought a computer that came with a 30-day trial of the Internet.

Now, Nicholas is serving six life terms in prison.

"The first time I was on the Internet, I was on for 36 hours nonstop," Nicholas said. "It was like a drug or something."

Nicholas said his computer ended up full with 20,000 illegal pictures.

"The more you had, the more you wanted," Nicholas said. "I see all these sex channels that have to do with boys. For someone like me, it was hard."

Dr. Jennifer Welch is a child psychologist and counselor at the Children's Assessment Center. She's now studying Nicholas' behavior because she said that it often progresses beyond viewing of pictures.

"They think 'maybe I want to meet one of these kids' and it kind of feeds it and makes the problem worse," Welch said.

"I had one situation where I met a guy on the Internet," Nicholas said. "I met his father and his father introduced me to him."

Nicholas said that that quickly led to sex with a 13-year-old Austin boy.

"It was a real odd situation. Of course, the father was involved with the son's friends and so it was a real odd situation," Nicholas said.

But most times, Nicholas said that he would look for certain traits among the children where he knew the families.

"I guess part of it is (an) independence kind of thing," Nicholas said. "They're more independent of their parents and stuff. More easy going, more accepting, you know?"

News2Houston Investigator Stephen Dean asked, "Those are the ones who are usually willing?"

"Yeah," Nicholas replied. "They don't run to their mother and father for every little thing and stuff."

Nicholas said that he usually tested the water with his would-be victims with a sexual joke.

"You kind of say something, and see how they react," Nicholas said, "and it goes from there, you know?"

Nicholas said that a child predator like him should have been obvious to any of his victims' parents.

"Basically, I got along with kids," Nicholas said. "Relationships with adults just didn't seem to work for me. I just didn't seem to relate to them too well."

But without the Internet, Nicholas said that he'd still be out there, prowling for kids.

He said that in his final arrest two years ago, his computer got him caught.

"The Internet, for somebody who has a problem like this, is just so, so, inviting," Nicholas said.

Experts hope Nicholas' insight can help law enforcement prevent a future attack on a child.

Counselors said that parents should monitor their children's online interactions, and talk to them, especially if they're independent.

They also suggest that parents watch out for adults that spend too much time around children, especially if they're rarely seen with adults.

And, finally, counselors suggest that any sexual jokes from an adult to a child should be a warning sign to parents.