Is it cyber-flirting or cyber-betrayal?

When Mayor Mary Anne Clancy of Newburyport, Mass., a married mother of three, engaged in a brief e-mail dalliance with a married gym teacher earlier this year, neither could have imagined the public embarrassment that would result from their private exchanges. But after Mrs. Clancy's husband, Brian, discovered the romantic e-mails this month, he allegedly assaulted Jason Beauparlant, the teacher, and was arrested. The ensuing headlines exposed the cyber-tryst.

The incident spotlights a largely hidden but rapidly growing phenomenon: cyber-affairs, romantic liaisons conducted via computer. Although a majority of such encounters never lead to a physical relationship - causing some observers to dub them "safe infidelity" - cyber-betrayals can seriously damage and even destroy the marriages of those involved, according to experts.

"It is a huge, huge issue," says David Greenfield, author of "Virtual Addiction." Noting that the Internet "has changed the whole landscape of human sexual behavior," he adds, "You've got this box on your desk that is accessible all the time with little or no effort. That just makes it too easy for a lot of people to communicate."

So easy, in fact, that they don't even need to leave home. "People sneak down to their computers while their spouse is sleeping and engage in these behaviors," Dr. Greenfield says. "They don't have to meet someone at the bar."

These cyber-flirtations are also attracting growing ranks of women. Although numbers are hard to pin down, researchers have found that "many more women than we ever imagined are using the Internet for sexually related activities," says Marlene Maheu, author of "Infidelity on the Internet."

In the past decade, lawyers have seen an increase in divorces and separations resulting from cyber-infidelity. "Some clients arrive at our office with hard drives they've yanked from their husband's computer, with downloaded e-mails, and with digital photos of their spouse's paramour," says Mark Guralnick, a divorce lawyer in Marlton, N.J.

In about 30 percent of cyber-affairs, Greenfield finds, the relationship escalates from e-mail to telephone calls to personal contact.

Even when no physical contact has occurred, these relationships can be "extraordinarily hurtful," says John Mayoue, a family law attorney in Atlanta. Unlike physical affairs, where a spouse doesn't know what a straying partner says during an illicit encounter, e-mail leaves a record.

"With a cyber-affair, I know every word that is communicated between the two persons," Mr. Mayoue explains. "They say things that are extraordinarily sexual, in ways that the husband and wife do not talk. They also appear to be speaking more from the heart than married folks speak to one another."

These cyber-romances raise new questions about what constitutes infidelity. In a statement to the press, Mrs. Clancy, the mayor, insisted that she did not have a physical relationship with Mr. Beauparlant. At the same time, she acknowledged that their online flirtation was "inappropriate" and expressed deep regret for the hurt she had caused her family. Her office did not return calls seeking comment.

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