The two agents, Stephen Sadowitz and Perry Woo, are credited with busting up a child sex tourism business that preyed on homeless children in Mexico. In some cases, the children were as young as eight years old.
Both investigators have been given the annual 'Officer of the Year Award' by NCMEC.
After an initial investigation into an alleged child porn sex tour enterprise headquartered at a place in Mexico called Castillo Vista del Mar, the two agents uncovered a wide-reaching chain of co-conspirators involved in sex-trafficking young Mexican boys who were being sold to travelers for as much as $1,000 per week.
The two agents uncovered the case following the search and seizure of a school teacher's home in Colorado that revealed information on the sex tour business. From that point on, the two agents underwent a two-year investigation into suspects involved in the operation and some of the victims.
According to reports, the sex tour was run by a man named Timothy Joe Julian of Indiana, who was recently sentenced to federal prison for 25 years. Several of the people accused of helping Julian run the sex tour operation have also been sentenced. Julian's closest associate in the operation was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Other co-conspirators are still awaiting sentencing.
The work of Inspector Sadowitz and Agent Woo resulted in the rescue of more than 30 children who were being exploited and sold for sex by Julian.
The award was presented to the two recipients by Assistant Attorney General Deborah Daniels and Congresswoman Julia Carson of Indiana. Other awards were given out by NCMEC to agents and investigators who had also been successful in disbanding similar child porn rings.
Award recipients were recognized later in the day by Attorney General John Ashcroft in the Great Hall of Justice at the Justice Department, a representative for NCMEC said.
