A rabbi, a police chief, and a little league coach walk into a New York police station… This is not the start of a joke, but rather the beginnings to a federal investigation of a child porn ring centered in the New York City area.
To date, the Homeland Security investigations have led to the arrest of 70 men and one woman, the seizure of 600 electronic devices, and a total of 175 terabytes (for reference, 1 terabyte can store approximately 349,500 digital pictures) of sexually explicit photos and videos of children. As information seeps out; it is not only the sheer amount of trading and collecting that took place between those involved, but the vocations held by the individuals that are making headlines.
Investigations began in January with Mount Pleasant Police Chief, Brian Fanelli, a 31 year veteran of the Police Department who claimed he had initially been looking at the images while doing research for a class on sexual abuse. His interest in the images later became personal and when law enforcement seized his computer they found more than 120 files of children engaging in sexual acts.
While Fanelli was one of the first to be arrested in association with the ring, other reputable community members have since met the same fate. The list includes: a rabbi from Brooklyn, a NYPD officer, a registered nurse, a paramedic, and a Boy Scout leader. The woman who was arrested is charged with producing and distributing child pornography involving her own child. In regards to those arrested, NYPD Commissioner, Bill Bratton, stated, “we can no longer assume that the only people who would stoop to prey on children are unemployed drifters.” The suspects, if convicted face anywhere from 5-15 years in prison.
Offenders in New York have been tracked down using their internet protocol address or through shared file programs and child porn forums. Unfortunately, law enforcement worries that these methods of identification may only give them access to the less tech-savvy offenders while those who know how to protect their online identity remain under the radar.
This case has drawn national attention not because of the number of people arrested, but because those arrested were trusted people in the community. This is a huge success for Homeland Security as well as for parents. However a long legal road awaits those who were arrested.
