Within one day, 40 men had sought sex This journalist met two of these men (right).

Their astonishing stories of depravity reveal the predators'methods and how it is now. . .

MORE than 40 men sought sex from what they believed was a 15-year-old schoolboy in a Sunday Tribune investigation of internet predators.

Many sent crude and explicit emails and two men (pictured above right) arranged to meet the fictional teenager for sex after an account was set up on the gay social networking website Gaydar last Thursday.

Within minutes men were contacting the fictitious scholboy, 'Davey', for sex.

Up to the time of publication, men, aged from their 20s to their 60s, were still sending messages asking for sex with the boy.

All of the men were told that Davey was 15years-of-age and the Sunday Tribune did not suggest sex to any of the men. All of them approached Davey of their own accord just days after it emerged that garda� are seeking four men in relation to the case of a 14year-old boy who met and had sex with at least two paedophiles after meeting them online on the Gaydar site.

Four other men were questioned last week in relation to the investigation which began after the boy's mother read sexually inappropriate messages on his mobile phone.

Two particular men, 'Paddy' and 'John', met with Sunday Tribune journalists posing as 15-year-old 'Davey' within hours.

When Davey went to meet the 27-year-old Dublin man 'Paddy', it emerged that Paddy had independently contacted another man to make up a threesome. Paddy did not seem fazed about Davey's age. Earlier, on Gaydar's internal messaging system, Davey sent Paddy a message saying, "I'm 15, " Paddy replied, "That's cool. . . so where bouts r u? U seem nice, " followed by his mobile phone number, a request to meet and "hope ur rough in bed ha. . . ye txt me. . . ye I'll meet dis afternoon if ur not too far away. . . u wanna cum back here 4 fun."

Yesterday, the Sunday Tribune met a man 'John', who said he was 47 and a public servant, at his home in the suburbs of north Dublin. Following a brief exchange online, where he addressed Davey as "kid", he invited him to his house to watch pornography and have sex. John sent messages to Davey's phone, including one which read, "I'm going to give you a good spanking over my knee. Be prepared, " and another saying, "Are you still a little schoolboy? Do you wear a little schoolboy's uniform?" along with other more disturbing and more explicit comments.

Another man sought to meet Davey on Grafton Street, knowing he was 15, and sent a text message asking for "kissing, sucking and wanking". Yet another man was waiting for Davey in the Phoenix Park for sex.

Yesterday, a man who had had no previous contact with Davey online called Davey's phone, which was set up solely to receive messages from those he met online. This would indicate that Davey's number had been passed to him by another party, most likely by another man whom Davey had been chatting with online the previous day.

The man masturbated while talking to Davey, even though he was told he was 15 and studying for his Junior Certificate mock exams.

Gaydar removed Davey's account from their website on Friday. The Sunday Tribune contacted Gaydar for a statement on the matter, but they did not reply.