US Police charge 41 in huge child-porn op

Police in New Jersey, USA have charged 41 people, including a 14-year-old, with sending sickening child rape photos and videos over the internet.

The arrests cap a two-month investigation in which a state police technology investigations unit combed the internet for New Jerseyans who distributed such images.

Officials said the photos and videos have been made available worldwide.

“Many who have sexually assaulted children started down that road with child porn,” State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said. “This operation places a roadblock in their path.”

The investigation, dubbed Operation Silent Shield, encompassed 15 of New Jersey’s 21 counties and numerous law enforcement agencies. The arrests began 10 days ago and continued until yesterday.

The suspects, aged between 14 and 71, were charged with child pornography possession and distribution and face 18 months to 10 years in jail. They have jobs ranging from lift engineers to car salesman, security guard, landscaper, deli owner to car mechanic.

A Woodbridge man who was arrested was a girls’ high school volleyball referee, state police said.

No-one has been charged with creating the images and videos, though state attorney general Anne Milgram said the investigation was continuing. She said officials will scour thousands of DVDs and more than 80 videos confiscated during the arrests.

Milgram said the videos lasted up to 15 minutes and featured children estimated to range in age from four to nine.

She said officials had identified some children involved and said the images were disturbing.

“It is impossible to sleep at night when you view them,” Milgram said. “They are a horrific thing.”

The arrests come as police and the FBI conduct a nationwide manhunt for Chester Stiles, 37, who police say videoed himself raping a three-year-old Las Vegas girl.

Many of the suspects were members of popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, authorities said.

Milgram on Tuesday issued a subpoena to Facebook.com seeking information on whether convicted New Jersey sex offenders have profiles on the social networking site.

The subpoena is similar to one issued earlier this year to MySpace.com, which identified 268 New Jersey registered sex offenders with MySpace accounts.

Milgram said last week six social networking sites – myYearbook.com, BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, AsianAve.com, GLEE.com and FaithBase.com – had agreed to use a new “Report Abuse!” icon designed to allow users to quickly report inappropriate activities. Milgram has also invited MySpace and Facebook to join the initiative.