Book'em Dano and Throw Away the Key

The New York Times reports that Austrian authorities have broken a "pay per view" child pornography ring whose tentacles reach into 77-countries.

"The children were under the age of 14 and screams could be heard, said Harald Gremel, an Austrian police expert on Internet crime who headed the investigation.

"Interior Minister Guenther Platter said the FBI was investigating about 600 of the suspects in the United States. German authorities were following leads on another 400 people, France was looking into about 100 others, and at least 23 suspects were Austrians, he said."

Child pornography ranks among the most vile crimes our society has to confront. It's victims are typically powerless, vulnerable and this leaves them damaged for life. This is one of the very few crimes for which we need much tougher sentencing laws.