Busting Internet Porn, Ethically

By Josh Tyrangiel

The FBI's arrest of more than 100 people for subscribing to child porn over the Internet was accompanied by little of the usual debate over possible entrapment. Opposing child-porn prosecution is surely the fastest way to lose public support. But another reason, investigators say, is that they were careful to avoid such charges. Lieut. Bill Walsh of the Dallas police department, which developed more than half the cases against Landslide Productions and its customers, says agents made contact with people who showed interest in child porn, but "if rebuffed, we didn't pursue them." Agents ignored requests for adult porn and pursued only those who asked for videos of children or for actual children to meet. "Some gave us very graphic instructions of what they wanted," says Walsh. "We allowed them to choose their own poison."

--Reported by Cathy Booth Thomas/Dallas

With reporting by Cathy Booth Thomas/Dallas