LOGAN COUNTY -- A Quincy man is one of more than 200 people nabbed in a five week, international child porn investigation headed by the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Mickell Close, 31 was arrested November 8th as part of Operation Sunflower. Detectives say Close, who is already a registered sex offender, secretly videotaped three girls between the ages of 7 and 9 years old in a bathroom to create still photos and videos that he used to trade on the Internet for other images of child pornography.
''I was just disgusted,'' Chrysta Crabtree, Close's neighbor told us, ''I couldn't believe it, I was upset thinking I have a kid here, what if he had cameras other places.''
Close has already agreed to plead guilty to one count of producing child pornography, and because of his prior record, he could get 15 to 30 years in prison.
ICE Director John Morton says Operation Sunflower, which ended in early December, identified 123 child victims. It found 110 victims in 19 U.S. states. The others were living in six countries.
Morton says the investigation is part of the agency's effort to find and rescue victims, and arrest abusers and people who make or transmit child pornography.
Other arrests were made in Georgia, California, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina and Illinois.
Mickell Close, 31 was arrested November 8th as part of Operation Sunflower. Detectives say Close, who is already a registered sex offender, secretly videotaped three girls between the ages of 7 and 9 years old in a bathroom to create still photos and videos that he used to trade on the Internet for other images of child pornography.
''I was just disgusted,'' Chrysta Crabtree, Close's neighbor told us, ''I couldn't believe it, I was upset thinking I have a kid here, what if he had cameras other places.''
Close has already agreed to plead guilty to one count of producing child pornography, and because of his prior record, he could get 15 to 30 years in prison.
ICE Director John Morton says Operation Sunflower, which ended in early December, identified 123 child victims. It found 110 victims in 19 U.S. states. The others were living in six countries.
Morton says the investigation is part of the agency's effort to find and rescue victims, and arrest abusers and people who make or transmit child pornography.
Other arrests were made in Georgia, California, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina and Illinois.