BURLINGTON, Vt. — Officials in Vermont say nine people have been arrested in the past week as part of a crackdown on child pornography.

At a Friday press conference in Burlington, U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin said the initiative dubbed Operation Greenwave is a collaborative effort involving state police, local police departments and the federal Homeland Security Investigations agency.

Coffin said the arrests will continue.

“These are serious offenses,” he said. “We’re going to be using our resources to go after them in a serious way.”

The Burlington Free Press reported that the nine people arrested so far come from all walks of life and include a lawyer, a photographer and a voice coach.

Coffin called the effort unprecedented in child pornography prosecution in Vermont. Officials say undercover investigations are continuing and more arrests are expected.

Child pornography “is not a victimless crime,” said Matthew Etre, deputy special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations’ Boston office, who said the collaborative statewide effort is among the first in New England. “We will use every tool at our disposal” to track down child predators, he said.

“I want Vermonters to understand that this is quite simply the tip of the iceberg,” Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said, according to the Free Press. “I’m not exaggerating when I say that.”

 


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