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If you have ever watched NBC’s television series Law & Order: SVU, you have probably seen New York City detectives take down child porn rings and arrest child abusers—cleaning up the streets and making children safer. While we seldom hear about disturbing scenarios like this in the news, the horrifying truth is that many children are being filmed and forced to have sex with other children and adults.
On Wednesday, May 21, 2014, federal authorities arrested and charged about six dozen people in the New York City area for their involvement in a child porn ring. After a five-week investigation, agents from Home Land Security Investigations had enough evidence to arrest over 70 men and one woman for producing, distributing, or possessing the sexually explicit images of children.
While this information is sickening, what’s most disturbing is that the list of those charged includes people in trusted positions such as:
- Boy Scout leader
- Rabbi
- Paramedic
- Police officer
- Little league coaches
- Teachers
- Doctors
- Nurses
As a result of the bust, authorities were able to rescue about 400 children and seize computer hard drives. Once they track all the data, they believe it should lead to hundreds of other arrests around this nation, which could result in one of the largest child pornography busts in U.S. history.
As child abuse attorneys, we are sadly reminded again that many Boy Scout leaders, teachers, coaches, and others that are supposed to keep children safe and uphold the law have been linked to disturbing events like this. We will be following this story as it unfolds and more details are released and arrests are made. For updates, please follow us on Facebook.