10072

08/17/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10072

INTERNET CHILD PORN RING

Cooperation among U.S. and European law enforcement officers has broken up an Internet child-pornography ring. Officials in the U.S., Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, France, and Britain have arrested twenty people charged with sexually abusing their own children and trading photographs of these despicable acts over the Internet. Forty-five of the victimized children were removed from abusive parents. U.S. Commissioner of Customs Robert Bonner announced the arrests of ten Americans believed be part of the international child pornography ring.

Since November 2001, the U.S. Customs Service Cyber-Smuggling Center has been working with the Danish National Police in investigating photographs on the Internet depicting a man sexually abusing a young girl. Danish authorities learned that the child in the photos was the nine-year-old daughter of the man molesting her. The molester and his wife are now in custody in Denmark. They are accused of distributing the images via the Internet to individuals in the U.S. and nine European countries.

Working closely with INTERPOL and with state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Customs Service identified Americans suspected of belonging to the child porn distribution network. One of the suspects in the investigation was arrested in Texas in March for possession and receipt of child pornography. On July 10^th, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Fifteen persons, including six foreign nationals, have been indicted on conspiracy charges in the United States. More arrests are expected in the investigation.

The U.S. continues to be a global leader in the enforcement of laws aimed at protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse by pedophiles. The distribution of child pornography and other sexual exploitation of children are serious crimes in the United States. Offenders are subject to significant prison terms.

Mr. Bonner, the Customs Commissioner, reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. to bringing to justice all those who sexually abuse and exploit children. "There is no duty that enforcement officials take more seriously," he said, "than protecting children from predators."