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Ten Men Rounded-Up on Child Pornography Charges
Ten Men Rounded-Up on Child Pornography Charges - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 7:45PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Tuesday, Dec 8, 2009 @ 07:45pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Ten men are facing charges tonight after a child pornography round-up in Lackawanna County. All of the suspects were taken into custody early Tuesday morning.
The investigation is being called "Opeartion Dirty Windows." Police and prosecutors say they hope it cleans up the community.
"The arrests that were made today were a mixture of arrests for possession and distribution of some quite horrendous images of young children," Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico said.
Among those charged were Jorge Coronel. He is the CEO of the Coronel Management Group in Dalton.
Prosecutors say some of the victims in the child pornography were as young as five-years-old.
"Some are not just pictures. Some were videos. Some were "tens" of videos. Some were "hundreds." Some were upwards of "thousands," Talerico said.
For three of the suspects, this is not their first arrest.
Police say Richard Saar, Bryan Luvender and Jeff Banks have all faced charges before. They have either been charged with sexual assault or indecent assault charges.
"That's one of the most troubling aspects of this. That is one of the reasons we need to maintain our vigilance in law enforcement," Talerico said.
"I'm innocent," Jeff Banks said as he was taken into his arraignment. He denied ever possessing or disseminating child pornography.
All of the charges come after a six-month investigation by the District Attorney's Office and the FBI. They say the investigation is far from finished.
"We're going to continue to maintain our vigilance in the fight against the exploitation of children and hte dissemination of child pornography," Talerico said.
Several of the suspects are locked-up in the Lackawanna County Prison. They are all expected to face preliminary hearings later this month. | |
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