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14 Americans arrested in child porn sting

Story Highlights
Justice Department describes ring as a "vast child exploitation enterprise"
The suspects allegedly distributed more than 400,000 lewd pictures and movies
Authorities: Technology used by the suspects made them especially hard to find
20 children rescued; ring had allegedly been trading in child porn for two years
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From Kevin Bohn
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Fourteen Americans are in custody as part of a global crackdown on a well-organized child porn ring that used sophisticated encryption technology, the FBI and Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The ring was broken up after a law enforcement officer infiltrated the group, the Justice Department says.

Justice Department officials described it as a "vast child exploitation enterprise" that included graphic images, such as ones showing toddlers engaged in various sexual and sadistic acts.

The suspects allegedly used Internet newsgroups and large file-sharing networks to trade and share images and videos.

They also distributed more than 400,000 lewd pictures and movies, the Justice Department said.

Authorities said the advanced technology the suspects allegedly used to both share the images among themselves and sell the material to others made them especially hard to track down.

"This is beyond a quantum exponential leap for us to see folks that have gone to this much trouble to produce this kind of volume of horrific exploitation of children," said FBI executive assistant director J. Stephen Tidwell, according to The Associated Press.

It may take years for authorities to find the victims, Tidwell told the AP, adding that 20 of the children seen in the images have been identified and rescued so far.

The ring, which allegedly had been trading in child porn for two years, was broken up after a law enforcement officer infiltrated the group, the Justice Department said.

Twelve of the those arrested -- including suspects from Virginia, Florida, Oregon, Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, Washington state, California, Texas, Idaho and North Carolina -- face charges of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, transportation of child porn and obstruction of justice.

If found guilty, the suspects could face a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison.

Two other defendants face separate charges.

The FBI said 22 people were taken into custody overall, including people in Australia, Canada, Germany and England. E-mail to a friend