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.
