Feds: Five Chicago-Area Children Victims Of Child Porn Ring

CHICAGO (STMW) -- The investigation into an underground child pornography website that included at least five victims from the Chicago area has concluded, the federal government announced Tuesday.

Fourteen men operating a child pornography website on the Darknet's Onion Router, also known as Tor, have been arrested and charged following an international investigation by Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The website operated from about June 2012 until June 2013 and primarily shared webcam-captured videos of juvenile boys, according to the statement.

Of the 251 identified minor victims, five are in the Chicagoland area, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gail Montenegro.

According to the statement, "Operation Round Table" is one of the largest online child exploitation investigations in the history of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Jonathan Johnson, 27, of Louisiana, the alleged creator and administrator of the underground website, has been charged with operating a child exploitation enterprise, the statement said. Ten others accused of being primary operators and contributors to the site were arrested and charged in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The three remaining defendants were charged with child pornography in courts in New York, Colorado and Wisconsin, the release said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)