Suspects in Child Porn Bulletin Board Continue to Enter Guilty Pleas; Defendants Used Site to Compile Handbook For Grooming Young Boys to Be Victims

Photo by bloomsberries via Flickr

Photo by bloomsberries via Flickr
Another suspect brought in following an international investigation with strong local roots of a now-defunct web bulletin board serving as a hub and tutorial for child pornography involving young boys has pleaded guilty, according to a release issued by the United States Attorney's Office.A Georgia man is one of 16 named defendants who had roles in running or participating in the "Lost Boy" site, which authorities shut down about two years ago. The site was where about three dozen members traded images and videos of boys in sexually explicit situations.

Part of the materials shared on the forum was a handbook on how to groom potential victims, which was a collaborative "guide for adult men on how to find and groom boys into engaging in sex, how to deal with physical aspects of sexual contact, and how to move on to other victims when the current victim grew too old to be attractive."

Members were located in the US and abroad. So far, five of the defendants have pleaded guilty for their roles, including two who lived in Southern California; an additional two defendants are expected to plead guilty in the coming days, while eight other members face charges and will go to trial in April 2011.

The investigation into the Lost Boy bulletin board is an ongoing effort by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, in conjunction with the Los Angeles-based Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team. That team is comprised of the FBI, the United States Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the California Department of Justice, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.