Police arrested four people this morning during a multi-agency sting targeting suspected child pornographers in four San Francisco neighborhoods, including SOMA, the Excelsior, Ocean View, and Visitacion Valley.
According to police, more than 100 officers from 23 agencies worked to serve search warrants at six residences in San Francisco where occupants were suspected of possessing or distributing child pornography. In all, four suspects were charged.
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"These suspects prey on children, who are some of the most vulnerable members of society," said Police Chief Greg Suhr. "Working together, law enforcement can take steps to remove these predators from our neighborhoods."
The following people were arrested on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography:
Investigators say they targeted peer-to-peer file sharing online, and suspects often
were identified through chatroom decoy operations. Investigators would then connect with
the suspects, who police say were sharing the images, and track their IP addresses. Investigators used search warrants to determine who owns the individual IP addresses and followed up with searches of their homes.
Investigators used a mobile forensics lab, which allows cops in a technology-stocked van to drive up to a suspect's
home, seize hard drives, and immediately begin searching for evidence
that would otherwise take months to obtain from a state Department of
Justice lab.
