Utah's ugly secret

Previous story: Internet fuels alarming growth of child pornography cases in Utah.

The children are beginning to look familiar to detective Marni Montgomery.

"I can get into a computer and start looking at the child pornography, and I recognize them, the ones I've seen before," she said.

She sighs. "That's the problem we try to explain to people. Even though a lot of these victims have been identified, they're still being victimized every time that picture gets traded around."

And don't confuse child erotica with child pornography, Montgomery warns. "Two little girls, standing there naked," she said. That's about as far as most people want to go in thinking about this subject. "It's too scary to think about the other."

The other is what Montgomery sees all the time: pictures of adults engaged in sex acts with children — as young as infants — or children acting out sexual positions with other children.

"Anything you would see in adult pornography magazines with two adults, you'll see in child pornography," she said.

Montgomery didn't always work these kinds of cases. She's assigned to the child abuse investigations unit at the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Slightly more than a year ago, the investigations division of the Utah Attorney General's Office received a $300,000 grant for training and computer undercover work from the U.S. Department of Justice. Out of that funding was born the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force — city, county, state and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors working together to stop the exploitation of children online.

Montgomery is part of that team. Their original goal was to work 65 cases in more than 18 months. Last year alone they investigated 108.

"With 30 regional task forces, I'd say we're probably one of the top five (busiest) in the country," said the task force's director, Ken Hansen.

---

"Every time we throw a line in the water, they're fighting to get on the hook."

— U.S. Attorney Paul Warner, on finding predators in teenage chat rooms

---

Police in Utah aren't struggling to find people in possession of child pornography.

"The very first cases we were getting came mostly from concerned family members," Montgomery said. "I'd get calls, you know, 'I got into my brother's computer the other night, and I saw some stuff.' "