Indonesia hunts child pornographers

Thomas Reedy (R) and his wife Janice received sentences of 1,335 years and 14 years in prison respectively

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian police are confident they will track down those involved in an international child pornography ring but a legal uncertainty means their conviction is not guaranteed.

U.S. officials have arrested 100 people, saying they have dismantled what they described as the world's largest known commercial child pornography business.

Five webmasters based in Russia and Indonesia have also been charged but have yet to be found and brought to trial in the United States.

U.S. investigators have not yet made a formal request for help in tracking down the Indonesians involved in the ring.

No law

"We are sure that we can track them down. But the problem is we have difficulty in trying them here because we have no laws supervising child pornography through the Internet," national police spokesman Didi Widayadi told Reuters.

"We are still studying it, the legal aspects and the procedures," he said.

U.S. officials conducted a two-year undercover investigation of a Texas company, which distributed child pornography via the Internet.

The American couple who owned and operated the company were sentenced in a federal court on Monday, with the husband getting life in prison and the wife 14 years.

Widayadi said Indonesian police had been in contact with the U.S. authorities.

"We are still waiting for an official request from U.S. authorities to help find out the whereabouts of Indonesian nationals who have been operating child porn websites," he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.