Global Child Porn Sting Nets 14 Americans

FBI: Online Child Porn Network One Of Most Sophisticated Ever; Victims As Young As 5

(CBS/AP)  After James Freeman was vetted and approved for membership in what police describe as a highly sophisticated child porn network, he expressed his appreciation by posting two folders online: one labeled "mild," the other "wild."

"All I can say is that they are worth the download," wrote Freeman, known in the global porn ring as "Mystikal," according to court documents. "My thanks to you and all the others that together make this the greatest group of pedos ever to gather in one place."

Freeman was one of 12 Americans indicted last week in a worldwide investigation that ultimately charged 22 people with participating in the porn ring - and intentionally blocking police from investigating it.

In all, more than 400,000 pictures, video files and other images showing children engaged in sexual behavior were produced, advertised, traded and distributed globally in the online pornography ring, according to U.S. and international authorities. The sting, which started in Australia, also netted accused pornographers in England, Canada and Germany.

Some victims were as young as five years old. Others were preyed upon for innocent characteristics such as wearing their hair in pigtails.

Authorities won't say how they eventually broke through several layers of encryption, background checks and other security measures the pornographers used to protect their online user group from being accessed. The porn ring was run like a business, FBI executive assistant director J. Stephen Tidwell said Tuesday, with the lewd images used as currency instead of cash.

"This is beyond a quantum exponential leap for us to see folks that have gone to this much trouble to produce this kind of volume of horrific exploitation of children," Tidwell said in an interview.

So far, authorities have identified and rescued 20 of the children who were exploited, he said, adding: "But with 400,000 (images) we're going to be at this for years, trying to find the victims."

Australian investigators first discovered the ring and infiltrated it undercover in January 2006, said Ross Barnett, detective chief superintendent with the Queensland Police Service. Those who gained access to the online forum could only after passing a series of what Tidwell called "various benchmarks and bars to get over to get into their group."

"From our perspective, it's definitely the largest and most sophisticated and disciplined group that we have ever seen operating in this environment," Barnett said.

A 34-count indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., details conversations among the 12 men accused of trading and advertising the pornography. Two other Americans also have been arrested, but they were not named in the indictment and their names were not immediately available.

The men were indicted from towns in 10 states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

The men are referred to in the indictment by various nicknames, which include "Box of Rocks," "Crazy Horse," "Eggplant," "RoadKill" and "Pickleman," reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. The indictment was unsealed Friday as the FBI started making arrests.

In one example cited in the indictment, Raymond Roy - known as "Nimo" - posted videos of Thai children "to give everyone something to do for an afternoon."

"This one may offend here, so a word of caution, these girls are heavily drugged," Roy wrote on July 10, 2007, according to the court documents. "Not much action to speak of, the girls are (sic) to (expletive deleted) up to move, or resist. Three girls, the first one being the youngest, around 8 or 9 yo."

"Yo" stands for "years old."

The 12 men who were charged with engaging in a child exploitation enterprise; illegally posting notices seeking to receive, exchange and distribute child porn across state lines; and obstructing of justice. Several also were charged with producing the pornography - meaning they had contact with the children who were exploited, Tidwell said.

The investigation, which is continuing, is the latest product of the FBI's "Innocent Images" task force that stemmed from a 1993 child pornography case. The task force has arrested more than 9,400 suspects since 2004 and is made up of international investigators working in the United States from an FBI command center in suburban Maryland.

Noting the sophisticated process the porn ring used to bar police, Tidwell compared the growing number of child pornography crimes to that of cocaine dealers, terrorists and the Mafia.

"If they had good operational security, that's a bad thing for us," Tidwell said. "When you've got that, you've got a real challenge for law enforcement."

[andyli1004]

The task force has arrested more than 9,400 suspects since 2004 and is made up of international investigators working in the United States from an FBI command center in suburban Maryland.

[gordon.couger]

This is one place our justice system works pretty good once we catch them.

Just put the child molesters in with the general prison population and tell the gemeral prisoners if they use the child molesters up too fast they will send the molesters where they get more mileage out of them.

Almost everyone shares an equally low opinion of hard core child molesters. The lifers in prison don''t have many ways to be a befit to society. Offering them opportunity to be a deterrent to future child molesters by making news with what happens to the ones they can get their hands on is something they can really get involved in.

gc

[zootallures2]

Now the FBI and CIA can trade them on the stock exchange to save the US dollar along with puppy snuff films. Especially now that they are blocking your Columbian drug money.

[gigagrunt-2009]

Every child molester and everyone that watches child pornography needs to be put on an deserted island together with no type ability to sustain themselves and just let them starve to death so the can suffer. Or maybe even just nuke the island. Get more perves and nuke it anually for nuke testing and perve executions.

[deemsnyd]

I didn''''t read all the way through. I never know what to say about animal hearted people like this. If I had any sole authority in Justice with these guys standing before me, they would be executed publicly at sundown/ASAP so as to not ruin a brand new day. Then remove their carcasses from off our continent.

Posted by cfin5 at 06:02 PM : Mar 05, 2008


Yeah, I here ya. I couldn''t be president, I''d have to be a dictator.

[cfin5]

Doesn''''t it just make your skin crawl when you read the conversations between the monsters in this article? I''''d convict them based on that alone.

Posted by deemsnyd at 05:44 PM : Mar 05, 2008------I didn''t read all the way through. I never know what to say about animal hearted people like this. If I had any sole authority in Justice with these guys standing before me, they would be executed publicly at sundown/ASAP so as to not ruin a brand new day. Then remove their carcasses from off our continent.

[deemsnyd]

Doesn''t it just make your skin crawl when you read the conversations between the monsters in this article? I''d convict them based on that alone.

[deemsnyd]

At the very beginning of this thread, someone said the monsters in this article were probably republicans and a couple of other posts chimed in with agreement---so...the democrats started the childish mud-slinging this time.


Then, a little further along, a couple of posters actually said that child molestation was not an offense that should be punishable by death or a life sentence in prison----sounding even dumber, huh?

Then, a little further along, people start arguing more about whether or not more republicans are perverts than democrats, incidentally, I liked what one poster said about the reason democrats think republicans are hypocrits is because they speak out against immorality, so when they do something creepy, they''re hipocrits but democrats tend not to stand on morality issues, so when they do something creepy, it''s okay.(This does seem to be the opinoin of alot of dems)

All we need now is for tucker to show up and complete the circus with his opinion that rape is no more of crime than simple assualt and should be punishable by no more than a few months in prison, if that, no matter the age of the victim. That, folks, is pretty much a direct quote not taken out of context at all, I promise.


And we wonder why these animals are allowed to rape, abuse, and violate our children? If the above opinions are indicative of the broad-base population, then God help our children.

[bobnjersey]

[This is one of Alex Jones'''' websites...He was asking his listeners to call the White House and beg them not to hit the World Trade Centers weeks before 9-11]
[Posted by Prinzowhales at 12:35 PM : Mar 05, 2008]

what real evidence is there of these calls occurring before 911? besides alex jones that is.

[easeup-2009]

"easeup--Here''''s one site. This is one of Alex Jones'''' websites...He was asking his listeners to call the White House and beg them not to hit the World Trade Centers weeks before 9-11...We are posting on a major media website which helped the Regime magnify its 935 lies to get us into Iraq and Afghanistan with the support of the overwhelming majority of the American people...Alex Jones and infowars.com were right on the money about that...YOU ARE THE ONE WITH THE HOOK STILL IN YOUR MOUTH WHILE ABCNBCCBSFOXCNN PLAY YOU ON THE LINE!

http://www.infowars.com/archive
s/2004/May/05-07-04.htm

Posted by Prinzowhales at 12:35 PM : Mar 05, 2008"

Is there a stronger synonym for "gullible?"