Orchid Club investigation - Customs Service

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

All investigative records and files concerning the investigation of the Orchid Club child pornography ring.

The Orchid Club and the U.S. Customs Service's involvement in its investigation is described as follows in the Ninth Circuit's ruling in United States v. Tank, 200 F.3d 627:
"Tank belonged to a sixteen-member Internet chat room called the Orchid Club. Members of the Orchid Club discussed, traded, and produced child pornography. While online in the chat room, Orchid Club members traded digital pornographic images of children. [....] Based on this evidence, U.S. Customs agents obtained and executed an arrest warrant for Tank and a search warrant for his home."

The Customs Service investigation is also described in the Sixth Circuit's ruling in United States v. Brown, 237 F.3d 625:
"In 1996, the United States Customs Service (“USCS”) began an international child pornography investigation. The USCS learned that persons in several countries were using computer software called Internet *627 Relay Chat (“IRC”) to trade in child pornography, and that a secret, private IRC chat channel entitled “Orchid Club” was also being used for this purpose. "

It is also described in the First Circuit's ruling in United States v. Grant, 218 F.3d 72:
"The resolution of this appeal hinges on a September 1, 1998 affidavit executed by United States Customs Service (“Customs Service”) Special Agent Karen Booke (the “Booke Affidavit”) and submitted to a United States Magistrate Judge in support of a search warrant application. [....] The Booke Affidavit alleged, in pertinent part, the following facts: In May 1996, the Customs Service began to investigate the internet-based child pornography trading activities of Ronald Riva. Riva and associates utilized an internet “chat channel” known as the “Orchid Club” to traffic in digital images of child pornography, including images depicting child molestation. The investigation into the Orchid Club resulted in the discovery, by cooperating British law enforcement agents, of a chat channel called “# w0nderland,” which also was devoted to the distribution of child pornography. According to evidence obtained by British authorities during and following the arrest of Ian Baldock, a Briton who belonged to both the Orchid Club and # w0nderland, membership in the latter required the possession of 10,000 images of pre-teen children engaging in explicit sexual activity and the capacity to store these images on a server accessible to other members for electronic transfer via the popular File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”)."

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

Hello -

Per recent conversations with FOIA officers, I understand that documents from the Customs Service before its transfer to the Department of Homeland Security are now in the custody of DHS and its components. I thus withdraw this FOIA request from Treasury, and will direct it to DHS.

Thank you,
Shawn