TOP STORY: HSI special agents honored for work on Operation Delego

It serves as the largest child predator prosecution in history. Seventy-two individuals spanning five continents were charged with participating in a child exploitation enterprise and conspiring to advertise and distribute child pornography. They were allegedly involved in an online child exploitation network called Dreamboard, which required prospective members to upload material depicting children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit activity.

This week, two special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were honored for the work on Operation Delego – the significant criminal investigation that helped dismantle Dreamboard. Special agents Neil O'Callaghan and Leslie Williams both received the 2012 National Exploited Children's Award from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

O'Callaghan is based out of HSI's Washington, D.C., office. He obtained a search warrant for the Dreamboard site, which was hosted through a United States-based Web-hosting company. The search warrant permitted law enforcement to take down Dreamboard and access the information contained on the site.

Williams is based out of HSI's Shreveport, La., office. She led the team that secured a search warrant for an active Dreamboard user's residence in Arcadia, La. Her team subsequently arrested him.

Learn more about Operation Delego.