100 arrested in internet child porn raids

One hundred subscribers to child pornography websites have been arrested in a US undercover investigation.

The authorities say it is the largest commercial child porn business ever uncovered in the United States.

An eight-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother, both from England, are among the youngsters depicted in the materials who have been identified.

Law enforcement officials hope that some of those arrested will help identify child victims in exchange for leniency.

The two-year-old Operation Avalanche investigation led by the US Postal Inspection Service began with Landslide Productions, a Fort Worth, Texas, internet company that provided users who paid a monthly fee with links to child pornography websites with names like Cyber Lolita and Child Rape.

Subscribers around the world also could place or respond to classified and personal ads for child pornography.

They were caught by federal undercover agents who had taken over the Landslide website and contacted its users. When subscribers ordered child pornography delivered to their homes, agents moved in with search warrants.

Announcing the results of the investigation, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the arrests will help ensure "that cyberspace does not become a free-fire zone to target children".

The internet site had about 250,000 subscribers, many from overseas. Because they don't have the resources to go after all of them, authorities said they focused on the worst offenders in the United States.

Some of those arrested were child molesters, authorities said.