NEW YORK - A Boy Scout leader, a Little League coach, a rabbi and a police officer were among some 60 people arrested in the New York City-area, in one of the largest roundups of those who share child pornography online, a federal official said Wednesday.
Those arrested face charges of sharing and distributing child pornography through peer-to-peer file networks, which allow massive numbers of images, documents and videos to be traded online, said a federal agent who declined to be named ahead of an official announcement later on Wednesday.
The dozens arrested were from all walks of life and included a paramedic and a nurse, the official said.
Federal agents have collected more than 600 computers, tablets, smartphones and other devices and were combing through their content.The arrests follow a month-long investigation led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations with cooperation of local law enforcement and are one of the largest child pornography operations of its kind, the official said.