Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief
Last Modified: 09:55 AM EDT, 5 August 2011
U.S. federal government officials announced the arrests of 52 people involved in an international online child pornography ring that exploited children through a bulletin board with the moniker “Dreamboard.”
The arrests were the culmination of an investigation launched in late 2009. Code named ‘Operation Delego,” this phase of the investigation was an out growth of an earlier sting instigated to capture online child sexual predators. To date a total of 72 defendants have been charged and more than 500 additional people have been indicted for their participation in this heinous child sexual exploitation and rape ring.
‘Dreamboard,’ a members-only, online bulletin board created and operated to promote pedophilia, first came to the attention of authorities in 2009. Members hail from five continents and 13 countries including Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Serbia and Sweden.
In a perverse parody of due diligence, the board’s administrators rigorously screened applicants to validate that future participants’ predilections were prurient enough for membership. When applying for membership applicants were required to submit compromising pornographic images of themselves with children 12 years or younger.
Upon being granted membership, pedophiles had immediate access to graphic images and videos of adults molesting children 12 years old and under, often violently. To remain in ‘good standing’ participants had to frequently update their profiles with new images and videos of children as they raped them.
“The members of this criminal network shared a demented dream to create the preeminent online community for the promotion of child sexual exploitation but for the children they victimized, this was nothing short of a nightmare,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an August 3rd statement.
The indictments and arrests were conducted in three separate phases over the two-year span of the operation. Each of the 72 defendants are charged with conspiring to advertise and distribute child pornography and 50 of them are also charged with engaging in child pornography enterprise.
Of the 52 defendants arrested yesterday, 13 have pleaded guilty; while 20 of the 72 remain at large and are known only by their online identities.
Four of the 13 people who pleaded guilty have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 20 to 30 years in prison.
The travesty of these crimes is that many of the perpetrators will probably remain free because of the veil of anonymity the Internet provides. Additionally, though the sentences of 20 to 30 years may seem lengthy, they pale by comparison to the life sentences these men have meted out to their victims.
The physical, sociological and psychological damage perpetrated against these children will last a lifetime and will affect each member of our society tangentially or directly. Many of the victims have not been identified and because the geographic footprint of this criminal enterprise; it is likely that the number of children brutalized by this perverse consortium could run into the thousands.
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- Attorney: Police captain convicted of child pornography suffered PTSD (foxnews.com)
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22/12/2011 at 01:28
Dr Brian Neil Talarico North Bay Has been convicted of child molestation, an
possession of child pornography on his computer. Sexually molesting a young
boy. He had prior convictions for child molestation in 1990 and 2001. After
his parole in 2006. Dr. Talarico Brian. Works for north east mental health
centre, despite his background, and numerous complaints against him of
abuse, fraud, negligence, and imprisonment. Address: North East Mental Health
Centre North Bay Campus Highway 11 North North Bay Ontario P1B 8L1, and now
works for Act 2, North Bay.
22/12/2011 at 13:05
Indeed it is appalling to me that sex offenders receive less time in jail than petty drug dealers. There is something egregiously wrong with the penal system with regard to these perpetrators. In researching Dr. Talarico I found another forum discussing this same issue on Minnesota Public Radio. Interesting read.
10/08/2011 at 22:28
I found no evidence of the allegations you asserted in your comment. Though I appreciate you reading our blog and taking the time to comment, we can’t in good conscience publish comments that lack any type of substantiation.
I did research the organization and the people you mentioned but found no evidence of pro-pedophilia. The organization is certainly guilty of very right winged politics and possibly racism; but I found no evidence that the organization is in any way associated with Dreamboard.
In America the Child Protective Services agency is definitely broken and when children are removed from families for cause or otherwise, many of them suffer further abuse and unimaginable indignities. Furthermore, it is true that many of the children are raped by adults while in foster care which is absolutely unconscionable.
That said, child abuse and child rape that occurs anywhere in the world must be outed and publicized which is why we wrote the post on Dreamboard. Hopefully through raising awareness of this pandemic some children will be saved.
05/08/2011 at 15:00
I just hope one of the gay rights groups in America gets them good legal representation so that we can put an end to this homophobic witchhunt.
Read about it here:
http://twogaybullies.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/kiddie-porn-ring-busted-glad-theyll-have-good-lawyers/
05/08/2011 at 15:35
Your comment has been approved although I find it highly offensive. Your comment is tantamount to stating that if one reviles and is repulsed by individuals who chose to ‘rape’ children then they must be homophobic.
WRONG!!! WRONG!!!
The difference is when two adults, same sex or otherwise choose to engage in consensual sex that is a private matter and no one has the right to pass judgment on what occurs between these consenting adults.
By contrast, children have no such ability to consent nor should they be violated sexually or otherwise by a person who is of the age of consent. RAPE is reprehensible when it occurs between adults, whether a man rapes another man or woman; or a woman rapes a boy or girl; or a woman rapes a woman, etc. or any other combination that can be imagined.
Rape is not about the sexual act, it is about power. The power to destroy and debase another human being.
Rape of children by pedophiles is a heinous brutal acts which rob the child of their humanity, civil rights, dignity, and psychological well-being which is why it is called a human rights abuse.
Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Classism are equally reprehensible but are in NO WAY equal to the rape of a child.
If I am Gay and people don’t like me…..I can find people who do, live in a community which embraces me and fight the good fight.
If I am Black and people don’t like me……I can find people who do, live in a community which embraces me and fight the good fight.
If I am a Woman who has been discriminated against……..I can find people who understand me, who love me for the fullness of my being and my intellect, I can associate with people who support and embrace me and fight the good fight.
If I am a Child who is being raped or otherwise abused, I can only hope and pray that someone will save me, that I will mercifully make it through and if not, that it will stop once I DIE!
There is NO justification nor defense for the rape of a child. NOT in this world…….NOT in the Next!
05/08/2011 at 18:55
Excellent comment! Nothing to add.