COMPUTER CHILD-PORN RING CRACKED IN RAIDS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993                   TAG: 9303050071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI                                LENGTH: Medium
COMPUTER CHILD-PORN RING CRACKED IN RAIDS
Federal agents raided 40 locations around the country Thursday in the first crackdown on a worldwide computerized child pornography ring, the U.S. Customs said.
The raids in 15 states from Florida to Washington - including Chesapeake and Centreville, Va. - may also lead to discovery of domestic pornographic "bulletin boards," said William Rosenblatt, chief of the U.S. Customs Service in Miami.
"It's not only the largest operation in U.S. history, I want you to know it's the first," he said. "It involves the high-tech exchange of child pornography - basically what we have here is a bunch of computer perverts."
Computer transmissions are quickly taking over from traditional magazine formats among pedophiles, he said.
No arrests were made immediately, but if possession is verified, suspects can be charged with federal counts that could put them in prison for 15 to 20 years, he said.
The yearlong investigation, named "Operation Longarm," began with a child porn sting on a Miami man in March 1992.
That uncovered the existence of a members-only, Denmark-based computer bulletin boards named Bamse, Screwdriver and Vestbjerg. They charge about $80 a year to transmit photos by phone, Rosenblatt said.
The quality of the international computer transmissions by phone line was so good, recipients could make copies of the pornographic pictures on color printers in the United States with no loss in quality, he said.
Subscribers received a computer directory of photos. They then ordered the photos, which were sent by computer modem.
"They range anywhere from what we call child erotica to explicit sexual activity involving the exploitation of minor children," Rosenblatt said. "Generally pedophiles want children that range from the age of 5 to 12."
Police in Denmark raided the three bulletin boards, arresting two men and finding about 6,000 customers listed. The names of about 100 U.S. residents were passed on to U.S. Customs, which narrowed the list to the 40 raided Thursday.
State and local police accompanied customs agents on the raids to look for computer porn rings, and because past experience has shown a connection between such rings and child sexual abuse.
"Fifteen to 25 percent of the recipients of pedophile information are also convicted child molesters," Rosenblatt said. "These are human time bombs, ticking, waiting to go off."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB