Pictures and video footage are shot and distributed via e-mail. Web sites may be maintained in another state or even another country.

But the result of a far-flung industry can be felt alarmingly close to home.

In March, the U.S. Customs Service announced four arrests and the execution of 15 search warrants — one in Utah — in the investigation of a Russian Web site, selling child pornography videotapes over the Internet and through the mail.

Local officials will not comment on the case, because charges have not been filed.

In 1998, a 14-year-old West Valley City boy was found to be gathering child pornography in one of the country's most notorious chat rings.

"They called themselves 'Pedouniversity,' and it was actually a worldwide thing," said detective Marni Montgomery of the Salt Lake County sheriff's child abuse investigations unit. "They'd get online and trade pictures."

The boy, who was prosecuted as a juvenile, had 3,000 photos in his possession, Montgomery said.

Hansen has said he's seen a few cases of child pornography being manufactured in Utah.

But there's no profile of a child pornographer. Last year Hansen said he arrested a homeless man who made a few hundred dollars a month running two child pornography sites from a University of Utah computer lab.

Salt Lake police say they once arrested a man for child pornography who owned his own business and was making $100,000 a year.

Because he seemingly continued to thrive in his career, quitting seemed increasingly impossible to Thomas. He was ashamed to tell anyone, especially his parents who were devout Baptists.

He tried quitting several times on his own — cleaning out his files, trashing any child pornography stored on his computer. Once he even reformatted his entire hard drive. At times he contemplated suicide.

"I always wanted to get out of it, to get free of it," Thomas said. "I couldn't see a way out."

The self-policing didn't work, though.

"That's just like an alcoholic who thinks he can stop drinking," Thomas said.

Then one day, Thomas's 6-year-old son walked in as his father was on the computer. A curious child, the boy inquired about the images displayed on the computer screen.

That's when things started to unravel.

"I never wanted to harm my son," Thomas said, sitting in a small interview room at the Utah State Prison. His eyes search the air, pondering where his addiction had taken him.

"It's not like I wanted to bring him into my world," he said.