WASHINGTON – Seven more individuals in Maryland and Delaware are being investigated by the FBI as part of “Operation Candyman,” a nationwide Internet child pornography sting, an official said Tuesday.
Baltimore FBI Agent Pete Gulotta Jr. Tuesday said that various federal and local agencies are analyzing information seized in 11 searches over the last three to six months as part of Operation Candyman and that arrests are expected.
“It’s a rather large case,” Gulotta said, adding that the investigations may take months or a year.
FBI spokeswoman Angela Bell said that 89 people in more than 20 states have been charged in the year-old undercover operation. Officials said those involved in the ring included Little League coaches, a school bus driver, a teacher’s aide, a foster care parent and professionals in the fields of education, medicine and law enforcement.
The FBI said that more than 7,000 people belonged to the members-only on- line group that was the focus of its probe. About 2,400 members were overseas.
Gulotta said the agencies participating in the operation locally include Baltimore-area police, Maryland State Police, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Naval and Defense Criminal Investigative Services.
The Rev. Thomas A. Rydzewski, a Roman Catholic priest, was the first person in Maryland arrested in connection with Operation Candyman. He was arrested in December at the Baltimore Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, after searches of his residence, office and his father’s home turned up child pornography.
Rydzewski was charged with one count of possessing images of child pornography that were shipped and transported in interstate commerce. The felony count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Rydzewski has not yet appeared in court to enter a plea. A federal court clerk could not say when his next hearing would be.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore declined to answer questions about Rydzewski’s current status.
The priest is currently undergoing in-patient treatment at St. Luke Institute, a private psychiatric hospital in Silver Spring that treats clergy. An institute spokesman could not be reached for comment, but according to its web site, the facility treats such problems as depression, personality disorders and sexual problems.
The web site said patients usually stay several months at the institute and that 85 percent of institute residents “return to and remain in an appropriate and productive ministry.”