Cyberpornography

One of the biggest publicized catches of child pornography perpetrators was launched in May 2002 and called Operation Ore. After the FBI accessed the credit card details, email addresses, and home addresses of thousands of pornographers accessing a British child pornography site, the particulars were given to the British police for investigation. The arrest of a computer consultant in Texas led to an international investigation that jailed Thomas Reedy for 1,335 years for running the pornography ring. About 1,300 other perpetrators were also arrested, including teachers, child-care workers, social workers, soldiers, surgeons, and 50 police officers. As a result, 40 children, 28 of them in London, were placed under protective care. Police say that many child pornography sites are run from Eastern Europe.

See Also: Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act; Child Pornography; CyberAngels; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).