CHILD EXPLOITATION

2 plead guilty in one of largest child

pornography cases in US history
SHREVEPORT, La. — Two men pleaded guilty to felony charges in federal court April 11
for their participation in an international criminal network known as Dreamboard, which
produced and disseminated depictions of graphic child sexual abuse via the Internet.

Forty-seven individuals have now pleaded guilty for their roles in Dreamboard, which is the
largest child pornography bulletin board prosecution in U.S. history.

The guilty pleas follow an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
(ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with dozens of other law enforcement
agencies, as part of Operation Delego, an ongoing investigation launched in December 2009
targeting Dreamboard members around the world.

Christopher Blackford, 28, of Charleston, S.C., pleaded guilty to participating in a child

exploitation enterprise and faces 20 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years of
supervised release. According to court documents, Blackford admitted he joined Dreamboard
in December 2009 and contributed 84 posts to the online bulletin board that contained child
pornography.

William Davis, 39, of Bristol, N.H., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child
pornography and faces 15 to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of
supervised release for his role in Dreamboard. Davis admitted in his guilty plea that he posted
advertisements offering to distribute child pornography to other members of the board.

Blackford and Davis are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Louisiana July 29.

"The sexual abuse of innocent children is one of the most unconscionable violations
of trust imaginable," said HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Raymond R.
Parmer Jr. "Investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of these horrendous
crimes is one of our highest priorities and HSI will continue to work with its law
enforcement partners to bring these criminals to justice."

Parmer oversees a five-state region including Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and
Tennessee.

Dreamboard was a members-only online bulletin board created and operated to promote
pedophilia and encourage the sexual abuse of young children in an environment designed to
avoid law enforcement detection.

According to court documents, Dreamboard members traded graphic images and videos of
adults molesting children. Prospective members had to create and share child pornography to
gain entry into the group and to maintain membership once accepted. Dreamboard members
employed a variety of measures designed to conceal their criminal activity from detection by
law enforcement. Members communicated using aliases rather than their actual names and
content posted on Dreamboard was encrypted with a password shared only with other
members. Members also employed proxy servers to route the group's internet traffic through
other computers in an attempt prevent law enforcement from tracing internet activity.

A total of 72 individuals, including Blackford and Davis, have been charged as a result of
Operation Delego, which is the largest prosecution in United States history of an online
bulletin board network dedicated to child sexual abuse. Fifty-seven of these individuals have
been arrested; 47 defendants have pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy and an
additional defendant was convicted after a trial.

Fifteen of the 72 charged individuals remain at large and are known only by their online
identities.

HSI continues to investigate the case in an effort to identify and apprehend these remaining
individuals.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect
children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors,
Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity
through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are
staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-
hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international
alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to
prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
NEWS

Man busted, jailed for carrying 98,000

child porn images
APN Newsdesk | 20th May 2013 1:42 PM

A MAN caught trying to bring 98,000 child pornography images into Australia has been jailed for
15 months.

The 66-year-old man, who was prosecuted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection
Service, was sentenced in Brisbane District Court.

He will be eligible for release in three months.

In January last year Customs officers at Brisbane Airport searched the man's bags after he
touched down on a flight from China.

They found multiple electronic devices in the man's luggage containing the images as well as 85
child exploitation video clips.

The man was charged with one count of importing a prohibited import, namely child pornography,
and two counts each of possessing child pornography material while outside of Australia and
producing child pornography material while outside of Australia.

He was sentenced to 15 months jail for the importation offence and 12 months each for the
possessing and production offences, to be served concurrently.

Investigations Queensland manager Alex O'Brien said importing this type of "abhorrent material"
was a serious crime with severe consequences - the maximum penalty for this type of offence is
$425,000 and/or 10 years jail.

"Regardless of when these images were produced the children portrayed in them continue to
suffer in the knowledge that their images may forever be circulating, compounding the effects of
the exploitation," Mr O'Brien said.

"This sentencing should serve as a reminder to all travellers of the very serious penalties for
bringing this type of material into Australia."