Mahtomedi Junior High and High School held their first online safety courses Wednesday after a 40-year-old man stalked and harassed nearly 50 girls from the schools, PTO leader Anna Shelander said.

Last week police arrested Shane Werlein and charged him with child solicitation, stalking and harassment. He had contacted female Mahtomedi students between the ages of 13 and 15 on the social networking site Facebook, police said.

Shelander said that in one case Werlein maintained contact with a 13-year-old on Facebook for more than a month.

"He had been trying to talk her into prostitution and porn in just forms of 'send me something topless,'" Shelander said.

After learning of the arrest, Shelander asked the Jacob Wetterling Foundation to establish internet safety courses at the Mahtomedi schools. She is also urging parents to closely monitor their children's Facebook accounts.

"Somebody across the world, somebody two miles away from home, could be looking at your child's pictures," Shelander said.

The 13-year-old girl never met Shane Werlein but police said he used other aliases to target other Mahtomedi girls.

Shelander said she is trying to have the internet safety course added to the school's curriculum.