Las Vegas- A worldwide investigation into a child pornography enterprise has led federal agents to Las Vegas. Right now, they’re following up on more than 300 leads linked to a company called “Regpay.” Two people have already been arrested and many more could follow them to jail.

This child porn operation was based in Eastern Europe. Predators here in the U.S. were accessing the material through the Internet. Federal agents were able to track many of them down by tracing computer activity and through credit cards. But, even with thousands of arrests, investigators believe they’ve only scratched the surface.

Sex crimes are a growing problem in America; especially those involving children. Unfortunately, the Internet has created a venue for predators. Experts say anyone looking for child porn can easily find it.

An investigation headed by immigration and customs enforcement has already resulted in the arrest of some 22-hundred offenders. In the Las Vegas area 47 foreign nationals have been deported for child-related sex crimes and 2-U.S. citizens have been arrested. Including 59-year-old Harold Shaw. A former church camp counselor who was linked to the Eastern European child porn ring. A warrant was obtained to search his home.

Also linked to Operation Predator is former casino executive Kenny Wynn. Earlier this year, agents also served a search warrant at his Las Vegas home. Wynn was not arrested. And so far no charges have been filed. The investigation, however, is ongoing.

The government hopes Operation Predator will continue to result in the arrest of child sex-crime offenders. The tough part, they say, is tracking them down. Operation Predator involves several federal agencies, including immigration, the postal inspector and the I.R.S. Those agencies also work closely with local law enforcement like Metro. Currently they’re following about 300-leads in Las Vegas, but they say it’s a similar situation in many cities across the U.S.

Background 2/29/04: The brother of casino giant Steve Wynn is under investigation on child pornography charges. A search warrant was served at Kenny Wynn’s house. Wynn, who’s currently living in Utah, has not been charged with anything and hasn’t been arrested, but sources say he is one of several targets of an ongoing investigation. Wynn, like his brother, has been heavily involved in the casino industry.

He’s worked at the Golden Nugget downtown, at the Mirage, and recently at Wynn Las Vegas, the new resort going up on the strip. And this isn’t the first time Kenny Wynn has been in trouble with the law. In 1993, Kenny Wynn appeared before the Nevada Gaming Commission on drug abuse charges. Wynn had his gaming license suspended for a year and was ordered to pay a ten thousand dollar fine. “I realize I’ve violated the sanctity of the privilege granted to a license.”

Sources say just a few weeks ago, law enforcement agents served a search warrant at Wynn’s house in Las Vegas, located just off the TPC Summerlin golf course. The sources say they seized his computers and hard drives. Sources also say Wynn was caught in the same net that caught Las Vegas resident Harold Shaw. Shaw is accused of sexually assaulting a young girl and videotaping it. Shaw, and now apparently Kenny Wynn, were caught during Operation Predator, an ongoing cyber crimes investigation led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The operation is designed to catch adults involved in sexual crimes with children.

Kenny Wynn has been heavily involved in his brother’s gaming empire. After working with him on the Mirage, Kenny has been doing design work on Wynn Las Vegas, the 2.4 billion project on the strip, set to open next year. But Kenny Wynn suddenly resigned last week. Little reason was given for his departure.

All law enforcement agents are saying is that an investigation is underway. Tom Keller, a retired Metro cyber crimes investigator, described how agents might track website porn back to a customer, “In those warrants, we find transaction records. Has your name on it or that a credit card belonging to — Tom Keller, George Knapp — purchased this item.”

With that information they can then capture a phone line or an Internet address of the person. Keller says that once a site is found, it’s not hard to track the product back to the buyer. “Most transactions on the Internet are by credit card,” says Keller. “It tracks back to the suspects bank account, someone using the persons credit card bought that child porn with the address, records will show how you connected.” Law enforcement sources say that Wynn’s name and records of child porn transactions were found and were traced back to his own computers. The federal warrant that authorized lawmen to go after Kenny Wynn’s computers remains sealed.

Including Wynn, at least six Las Vegas residents were served with search warrants in this case. Law enforcement sources say that Wynn’s name was found on an Internet child porn supermarket and that they found evidence of quote ‘transactions linked to Wynn.’