Attorney who has gone after abusive priests names his new target: child pornographers

Lawyer Anderson shifts focus to target child porn

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An attorney who has spent years going after priests accused of sexual abuse is now taking on people who use or produce child pornography.

Jeffrey Anderson filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court that he says will help track people who make, download or possess abusive images.

The lawsuit is filed on behalf of a boy who was 9 when abusive images of him were taken.

It names one man, 49-year-old Gregg Alan Larsen of Minneapolis, and up to 100 unknown people who may have downloaded images of the 9-year-old boy. At a news conference in St. Paul, Anderson said he would find, expose and sue the people who downloaded the pictures.

The case is based on a federal law that was enhanced in 2006 to increase civil penalties for anyone who downloads child pornography to $150,000.