MONROE, Wash. — A woman who is a co-defendant in a pornography case in Snohomish County was able to get a job as a game operator at the Evergreen State Fair. An anonymous tip alerted authorities that Caitlin Ferry was working in Kiddie Land at the fair..

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Ferry had been arrested and charged this year, accused of child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor. She was released from jail on bond. When Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputies learned that Ferry was working at the fair, they arrested her.
“A condition of her release was she was not to be around children,” said Lt. Rodney Rochon, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

Ferry was booked into the Snohomish County Jail, and she is expected to go before a judge Thursday.

Her arrest is upsetting for some parents who were at the fair.

“I think it is horrible. I think there shouldn’t be people involved in that around my children,” said one mother.

Fair manager Hal Gausman confirmed that background checks are conducted for the hundreds hired to work at the fair. Snohomish County makes some of the hires, and private companies fill positions to operate the rides and food booths.

So how did Ferry get a job? County spokesperson Christopher Schwarzen called it, “a flaw in the background check system.”

“This would not have shown up because the background checks show convictions,” said Lt. Rochon.

Background checks noting convictions only would not have caught the charges against Ferry who is still awaiting trial.

That surprised Gausman who said, ” we really want the public to be very confident that we can close this button hole.”

A company called Bulter Amusements is handling the carnival rides and hired Ferry, according to Gausman. County officials have already had conversations on how the improve the background check system. They plan to hold what’s called an action review after the fair to take a closer look at the issue.

Ferry is a co-defendant in a case that also names Enrique Sanchez-Leon. A trial was expected to begin in October.

TAMPA —

The international child pornography investigation that led to the arrest of a Largo puppeteer last month has netted two more suspects accused of being part of a network of sadistic pedophiles.

Ronald William Brown, 57, had entertained Tampa-area children with his puppets for years by the time he was arrested on federal charges of conspiring to kidnap a child and possession of child pornography. Authorities said Brown collected pornographic images of children and fantasized about strangling, dismembering, cooking and cannibalizing children.

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About a week after Brown’s arrest, federal Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Geoffrey Portway, a Massachusetts man they say communicated with Brown over the Internet. Last week, they arrested Richard Dates of Grant, N.M, who is accused of communicating with Portway.

Altogether, authorities have arrested 46 suspects worldwide, including 15 in the United States, as part of Operation Holitna, named for an Alaskan river with tendrils that curl off in numerous directions. Authorities say they have rescued more than 150 children victimized by the network.

“This operation just keeps branching off in so many different areas,” said Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, where the operation began.

Brown is actually the second Tampa-area man arrested in the operation. In May, Joshua Taylor, 29, of St. Petersburg, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography. Officials said Taylor told an undercover investigator in an online chat that he abused a 4-year-old child.

Agents searching Taylor’s belongings found thousands of child pornography images, including many depicting sadistic and masochistic conduct and many involving infants and toddlers, according to Taylor’s plea agreement. Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Foucart said the investigation continues to grow.

“I wouldn’t say infancy,” he said. “We’re just starting to chug along. We anticipate this to go on for several years. It may never end. … Every time we make an arrest, every time we conduct a search warrant, we find new leads. I liken it to peeling back an onion, only the onion keeps getting bigger.”

Investigators who searched Brown’s home found images of child pornography, children in bondage and children who appear deceased, according to a complaint affidavit. The images were on his computer and on a CD in his sock drawer. He told agents he talks with people online about strangling children and is part of a “strangle group” on Yahoo.

“Brown stated that these are his fantasies and told agents he would never really do this,” the complaint states.

So far, investigators have not been able to say whether they have evidence showing Brown actually abused children.

Brown’s proximity to children in the community created a heightened sense of urgency for investigators, said Sue McCormick, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa.

“It is especially disconcerting when we find child predators who are child care providers, teachers, and in this case, a puppeteer at the local church,” she said. “Children look up to them. They trust them.”

Although it’s still unknown whether Brown molested any children, Foucart said a majority of suspects arrested in this operation have been involved in not only viewing child pornography, but producing it.

Foucart said he’s never before seen child pornographers who were also cannibalistic.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve been in law enforcement for 27 years, and you think you’ve seen it all, and then something surprises you.”

A 2008 study of federal inmates jailed on child pornography charges found the overwhelming majority of those who volunteered for sex offender treatment eventually admitted having sexual contact with children. When including those who failed lie detector tests, about 98 percent of the study subjects were found to have a history of sexual contact with children. When they were sentenced, though, most of them denied physically abusing children.