Victim Among Youngest Ever at 2 Months, Authorities Charge

Originally published by The Associated Press, March 1, 2004

SACRAMENTO — An El Dorado Hills man is being held without bond on federal child pornography charges after agents on Monday said they seized images from his home showing him performing sexual acts with a 2-month-old girl.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said the girl is one of the youngest sexual assault victims they have ever encountered.

Larry Michael Jeffs, 41, was arrested at his home Thursday after the agents said they found explicit video images showing him engaging in sexual acts with the infant, who is now 8 months old.

Jeffs is alleged to have distributed the images over the Internet, where they were recovered during a child pornography investigation in Detroit. The agents said they traced the images to Jeffs' e-mail.

Federal agents and the agents with the California Department of Justice Sexual Predator Apprehension Team raided Jeffs' home and seized computer equipment, a digital camera, and infant's clothing and bedding.

Jeffs remains in the Sacramento County Jail, charged with producing and distributing child pornography, which carry a maximum prison term of 50 years.

The continuing Detroit investigation is part of the government's Operation Predator, which targets child sexual predators worldwide, including subscribers to Internet child pornography Web sites. Since it began in July, the sweep has brought more than 2,000 arrests nationwide.