NYC District Attorney Busts 25 in Child Porn Ring

Twenty-five people were charged this afternoon with "possessing images or videos showing the sexual abuse of children," the New York Times reports, as announced by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. The felony charges include promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child, for having "stockpiled images of the brutal rapes and sexual assaults of tens of thousands of real children," Vance said, calling the images "carefully labeled, sorted and shared." Among the accused: Glen Barfield, 39, an architect (also accused of showing child porn to a 16-year-old) and Josh Ruiz, 32, a substitute teacher. Vance added, "These victims were forced into physically and psychologically damaging sexual assaults that were recorded and disseminated online, feeding the appetites of pedophiles for more victims." [NYT]