http://news.excite.com/top/article/id/258457|top|08-09-2002::13:27|reuters.html
Customs Cracks Parental Pedophile Ring
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and European law-enforcement officials have cracked a ring of pedophile parents who sexually abused their children and traded photographs over the Internet, the U.S. Customs Service said on Friday.
The cross-border sweep resulted in 20 arrests and removed 45 children aged 2 to 14 from abusive parents, Customs officials said. More arrests were likely, they said.
A federal indictment, unsealed Friday, described a ring of pedophiles who e-mailed each other pornographic photos of their children being abused, traded tips in chat rooms, and sometimes met in person to swap their children.
"I've rarely seen crimes as despicable and repugnant as the crimes involved in this operation," said Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner.
Acting on a tip from the advocacy group Save the Children, police in November 2001 arrested a Danish man and his wife for molesting their 9-year-old daughter.
By examining the man's computer, Danish police were able to identify suspects in the United States and Europe, said Customs agent Mike Netherland.
A federal court in California indicted 14 men and one woman Thursday on charges of conspiracy to sexually exploit children, sexual exploitation of children, and distributing child pornography. If convicted, they face a minimum of 10 years in prison.
All but two of those charged were taken into custody, Netherland said, and the others were expected to surrender to police.
Six of those charged were residents of Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands, but the U.S. would seek to extradite them because they sent child pornography into the United States, Bonner said.
"I don't care where in the world you are, if you send it here you are subject to U.S. law," he said.
The abused children have been placed in foster homes or returned to spouses who were not involved, Bonner said. Thirty-seven of the 45 children involved lived in the United States., he said.
Two other U.S. citizens involved in the ring were not named in the indictment because one had committed suicide while another pleaded guilty and was serving a 20-year term, Bonner said.
Those named in the indictment live in California, Florida, Texas, Idaho, New York, South Carolina, Washington and Kansas.