SCITUATE, R.I., May 13 (UPI) — Authorities in Rhode Island have arrested a man they call the nation’s “top trader” in child porn and 10 other people in an online pornography bust.

Teams of local, state and federal officers, including computer forensic auditors, served 14 court-authorized search warrants across the state following a two-month investigation, the Providence Journal reported Wednesday.

Among those arrested was John G. Hathaway, 32, of Warwick, identified by the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children task force as the “top trader” of child pornography, said Col. Brendan P. Doherty, state police superintendent.

Investigators have traced a total of 14,000 images to him, police say.

Each of the 11 men arrested have been charged with one count of felony possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum penalty of $5,000 and five years in prison.

Authorities say more arrests may follow once forensic audits are completed on the computers and digital devices they seized from the suspects’ homes.

Back story: In Rhode Island, eleven people have been arrested on child pornography charges and more arrests are expected in the days to come.

A new tool is helping authorities identify illegal activity online.

Rhode Island’s attorney general believes this is the first time law enforcement in New England have used peer-to-peer tracking to take down a child porn ring.

Two dozen law enforcement agencies in Rhode Island teamed up to crack down on child pornography – a three month investigation led to thousands of pictures and to the arrests of nine men and two 17-year-old’s in towns and cities across the Ocean state.

Rhode Island State Police Capt. David Neill said some of these men want to get caught and said so to officers.

Authorities used a software program, called Operation Fairplay, that tracks what are known as online peer to peer networks, basically file swapping, where images of child porn have been traded from person to person.

The difference with the crime of child pornography compared to some others is that you don’t necessarily know who might be using the computer if there are several people living in the house.

That’s why authorities get search warrants to get into houses – not arrest warrants targeting specific individuals.

Police raided 14 locations simultaneously early Tuesday morning – three suspects were not at home.

The eleven suspects who were, were arraigned soon