Using a national online system that enables them to remotely download incriminating images directly from a suspect's computer, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force have identified nearly 20,000 computer hard drives in Virginia that they say contain hardcore child pornography.

Virginia Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) reported last week that the Town of Herndon ranked number four in overall Virginia localities behind only Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Richmond in the number of computers known to possess child pornography statewide.

Herndon, which has a population of 23,000, is reported to have more than 1,000 known computers containing images of hardcore child pornography.

According to Virginia State Police, each electronic transaction of child pornography is considered a felony.

Jesse Ferguson, legislative aide for Moran, said that by using the nationwide software system, child pornography can easily be downloaded from the computer hard drives of individuals who utilize peer-to-peer file-sharing networks such as Napster or Limewire.

Flint Waters, Special Agent for the Wyoming Attorney General Division of Criminal Investigation, developed the software system that identified the images on Virginia's computers.

On Oct. 3, 2007, Waters testified before Congress, explaining how the system works to identify individuals who have downloaded child pornography on their computers.

According to Flint's congressional testimony, identifying individuals through their computers is fairly simple.

Investigators initiate downloads and then identify Internet protocol (IP) addresses. Law enforcement officials can then obtain physical addresses from Internet service providers.

"Once an offending computer has been identified in the local jurisdiction, the investigator may download child pornography directly from the suspect computer," Flint's congressional testimony reads. "Once criminal conduct is confirmed, the investigator sends process to the [service provider]. This request will attempt to identify the physical address associated with the IP address."

When all the evidence has been collected and reviewed, and a physical address has been identified, local authorities can then decide to apply for a search warrant to search the property in question and seize the offending computer.

"Approximately 30 percent of people who possess child pornography also victimize children," said Moran's office, citing a statistic from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Moran is currently working on a legislative initiative to obtain more funding for additional investigators and analysts in Virginia's two Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.

The legislation is called Alicia's Law, named after Alicia Kozakiewicz, who in 2002 was abducted and sexually abused at the age of 13 in the basement of a Herndon man's residence before being discovered by police.