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Internet sting identifies 1,500 suspected child pornographers
September 30, 1997
Web posted at: 9:47 a.m. EDT (1347 GMT)NEW YORK (CNN) -- A "cybersting" operation has identified more than 1,500 suspected child pornographers trading pictures of minors or soliciting child sex over the Internet, New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco said.
The 18-month "Operation Rip Cord" already has led to more than 120 arrests in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom and the prosecution of 31 people throughout the United States.
Investigators were so disgusted by the material coming across their screens that they once ripped a computer plug from the wall, giving the sting its name.
Former vice squad detectives from the attorney general's office in Buffalo teamed with U.S. Customs Service employees to crack computer codes and pose as adult bookstore owners to locate suspects.
College student among those arrested
Those arrested include a student at the State University of New York at Albany who was studying to become a kindergarten teacher and a Bronx school janitor who allegedly used a school computer to transmit child pornography.
The student admitted in May to promoting a sexual performance by a child. Neither he nor the janitor was accused of producing the pictures they allegedly transmitted.
More arrests are expected in the coming months, Vacco said at a news conference on Monday.
"The message that the kiddie pornographers in America and across the world need to know (is) that we're going to continue to sit on the 'Net, and they need to pay attention, because the next chat line conversation they have might be with an investigator from my office, from the state police, from U.S. Customs," Vacco said. "Eventually, we're going to find the producers."
Photos seem to be recent
Vacco said one of the most frightening things about the widespread child pornography is that many of the pictures appear to be recent, not old pictures just now surfacing on the new medium.
A demonstration at the news conference showed just how freely pornography flows over the Internet.
Within 10 minutes, investigator Michael McCartney -- using an e-mail address that kept his identity secret -- was in contact with someone who e-mailed him a picture of an adult male having sex with an adult male.
McCartney called the images he saw during the child pornography sting "so horrific" that they kept him awake at night.
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Authorities uncovered more than 200,000 child porn images and seized over $137,000 in home computer equipment during the investigation.
Adult bookstore owner tipped off police
The investigation began two years ago, Vacco said, when an adult bookstore owner in upstate New York contacted an investigator with the police department.
"Even though he is an adult pornographer, he was repulsed by this information, this type of material that he could download," Vacco said.
The sting teamed investigators from Vacco's office with federal customs agents, who used Internet chat rooms and other Internet tools to crack down on the alleged child pornographers.
U.S. Customs authorities and state and local police quickly joined the effort by providing logistical support for the probe, Vacco said.
And past victims of child pornography also helped, Vacco said, by coming forward with information.
"At the end of the day, this is not a victimless crime. The victims are those kids in the photographs," Vacco said. "They are willing to come out and speak out to assist us in this endeavor, because they know the tragedy that ensues with this type of victimization."
Related stories:
- FBI: Internet pedophiles a growing threat - April 8, 1997
- FBI cracks down on child pornography on the Internet - April 7, 1997
Related sites:
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- Office of New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco
- State-Fed Internet Kid Porn Sweep Finds 1500; Over 100 Suspects Worldwide Referred For Prosecution - Operation Rip Cord press release
- Vacco Nabs Bronx Public School Janitor In Cyberporn Sting - press release, September 24, 1997
- U.S. Customs Child Pornography Enforcement Program
- PEDOWATCH - monitors pedophilia and child pornography on the Internet
- The National Campaign to Combat Internet Pornography - group concerned about availability on the Internet of child pornography and obscenity
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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