Feds probe global kid porn website

Jace Radke

Monday, March 29, 2004 | 11:36 a.m.

Federal agents are investigating more than 300 leads in Las Vegas generated from the January indictment of a Belarus-based enterprise that charged people's credit cards for access to more than 50 child pornography websites worldwide.

More than 100,000 potential targets around the globe are being investigated in connection with the Belarus company, known as Regpay, as well as a Florida credit card billing service that allegedly was involved and 50 child pornography websites that were being used.

Fred Walsh, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the case is among the largest Internet child pornography investigations undertaken by the U.S. government.

"We've been working on these leads since August of last year," Walsh said. "We've prioritized them so that we are looking at certain targets first.

"Certain jobs that would bring people into contact with children like a school bus driver or police officer would become priorities."

A warrant served on the credit card processing server revealed more than 70,000 domestic subscribers to Regpay and 25,000 foreign subscribers. So far, two Las Vegas residents have been arrested and charged in connection with the investigation.

Mark Raffensparger, 47, is charged with receipt and possession of child pornography according to a federal indictment handed down earlier this month, and Las Vegas church camp counselor Harold Shaw, 59, was arrested in February by Metro Police after evidence was discovered allegedly linking him to Regpay.

Shaw was charged in Clark County District Court with three counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14, one count of lewdness and two counts of use of a minor in producing child pornography.

Sources said that the search warrant served in February on former casino executive Kenny Wynn, the brother of casino magnate Steve Wynn, was also part of the child pornography investigation. No charges have been filed against Wynn, and federal officials would not comment on the search warrant, which is sealed.

The Regpay investigation is part of Operation Predator, a U.S. Immigration and Customs initiative designed to identify, investigate and arrest sex crime offenders.

Predator was designed to protect young people from child prostitution, trafficking, pornography and sexual tourism by combining the investigative skills of U.S. Customs with the information-gathering abilities of Immigration and Naturalization, authorities said.

"Internet crimes have been a priority for Customs since 1997 when our cybercrime center opened in Virginia," Walsh said. "Now we have the resources of Immigration, and we've been able to merge the two under the Predator umbrella."

Along with investigation of Internet-based crimes, Predator also goes after illegal immigrants and immigrants with green cards who have histories of sex offenses. Illegal immigrants and resident immigrants can be deported if they have committed felony sex crimes in the past.

Michael J. Garcia, assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said in remarks earlier this month to Congress that "among the criminal subset of the alien absconder population, many have convictions for sexual offenses and, in particular, offenses against children."

To address the problem, ICE, through Operation Predator, began to match immigration directories with databases of sex offenders required to register with authorities through Megan's Law.

Nationwide more than 2,000 people have been arrested in connection with Operation Predator since its inception in July, and 49 have been arrested in the Las Vegas Valley. Shaw and Raffensparger are the only two American citizens among those charged in the valley so far. The other 47 valley arrests were either illegal immigrants or resident immigrants.

Sex offenders who are illegal immigrants get into the country in the same ways that other immigrants do, making their way across borders in the backs of trucks and other vehicles, Walsh said.

"There isn't some kind of express lane for perverts to get into the country," Walsh said.

Of the 47, about half came from Mexico, and there were others from El Salvador, Cuba, the Philippines, Honduras, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Tonga and Colombia. Forty-one have been deported or are pending deportation, while four are being prosecuted on charges of reentry of a deported alien, and proceedings were terminated against two of the defendants.

Statutory sexual seduction, lewdness with a minor and sexual assault are among the crimes that the 47 were charged with.

Lt. Jeff Carlson, head of the Metro Police sexual assault detail, said that recidivism rates among sexual offenders are usually very high.

"That's why you often see cases with coaches, teachers or priests where you may have 100 victims," Carlson said. "They don't stop until they are caught, and when they get out of prison they often re-offend."

Walsh said that if agents discover additional offenses new prosecutions would be initiated before any deportation actions are taken.

"Shaw was investigated for connections to Regpay, but when a search warrant was served videotapes were found, so he will be prosecuted on more serious charges locally," Walsh said. "If in our investigations new charges come to light or victims come forward, we will investigate and new charges will be filed."

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