Hartford, East Hartford Men Detained In Child Porn Crackdown: Feds

HARTFORD/EAST HARTFORD, CT — Two suspects in the Greater Hartford area were among several charged in a federal roundup of accused child sex predators.

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced the results of "Operation Restore Justice," a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track, and arrest child sex predators, officials said.

The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown.

As part of Operation Restore Justice, one resident of Hartford and one from East Hartford were charged. They are:

• Steven Taylor, 52, of Hartford, was charged by indictment with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

As alleged in the indictment and other court documents, Taylor used his smartphone and other devices to record sexually explicit videos and images of a minor female.

According to federal authorities, searches of the devices revealed more than 2,300 sexually explicit images and videos of prepubescent minors.

Taylor was arrested on related state charges on Oct. 24, 2024.

On May 1, he appeared in Hartford federal court and pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

He has been detained since his arrest.

• Ryan Perry, 39, of East Hartford, was charged by criminal complaint with transportation, receipt, and distribution of child pornography, officials said Wednesday.

As alleged in court documents, in January 2025, Perry, who was on state probation for prior child exploitation offenses, was arrested for probation violations stemming from a 2024 home visit, federal authorities said.

A separate federal investigation identified Perry as a possible user of a darknet site where child pornography was uploaded and shared, according to federal officials.

In April 2025, analysis of a hard drive seized from Perry revealed approximately 2,900 images and videos of child sex abuse material, investigators allege.

Perry was arrested federally on April 29 and is detained.

The coordinated effort was executed over five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country.

For the full federal news release on the roundup, click on this link.