When it comes to patrolling the Internet for pedophiles, the Bedford County Sheriff's Office has more manpower, money and legal muscle than most law enforcement agencies in Southwest Virginia.

Undercover officers with the federally funded Blue Ridge Thunder unit often pose online as young girls, casting a wide net for men who see the Internet as a forum for illicit sex. A typical investigation starts with a series of graphic e-mails, leads to a meeting at a prearranged spot and ends with an arrest.

Yet of the 135 arrests made by the highly touted operation since 2001, just six of the defendants have been from Bedford County.

That has led some critics to wonder: If the sexual solicitation of children and the trafficking of child pornography on the Internet is the epidemic some say it is, why doesn't the Bedford-based operation find more crime closer to home?

"I'd like to think that we have a very safe community here," said Carter Garrett, one of three Bedford-area attorneys to raise questions about the task force in recent interviews. If most of the arrests are of men who live elsewhere, "it speaks well of the community," Garrett said.

But it also leads to another concern. Garrett said he has heard from some county residents that "they don't feel all that comfortable with luring who they believe to be perverts from outside the community into the community."

The fear is that an out-of-town suspect with sex on his mind could get lost on his way to the prearranged meeting -- or decide for whatever reason to bail out at the last minute -- and wind up somewhere like River Ridge Mall, where he might find a real victim, said Leigh Drewry, a Lynchburg attorney who shares Garrett's concerns.

Although that scenario has not happened, "the first time it happens will be the last time they [police] want it to happen," Drewry said.

Lt. Michael Harmony of Blue Ridge Thunder brushed those arguments aside, saying police do not lure anyone to the area. It is the suspects, not the officers, who suggest a Bedford County rendezvous, he said.

Harmony also noted that while based in Bedford, the task force is responsible for the southern half of Virginia and all of West Virginia.

"If Mr. Garrett or any other attorney thinks that if a child is not from Bedford County then they don't have the right to be protected ... I would have to respectfully disagree," Harmony said.

He also wondered whether critics would blame a child victim for bringing a criminal to a community.

"If a person is going to come to Bedford County, I'd much rather they came to meet one of my investigators than a child," Harmony said.

Created in 1998, Blue Ridge Thunder is one of 46 Internet Crimes Against Children task forces across the nation.

It has received $2.5 million in federal funding to conduct undercover investigations, coordinate resources in the community, assist other law enforcement agencies with training and educate the public about Internet safety. The current budget for the Bedford County Sheriff's Office is $4.8 million.

The task force has also gotten some high-profile support from NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, who last year became a reserve deputy with the sheriff's office. According to Harmony, O'Neal has even gone along on a number of solicitation-related search warrant executions -- including one last month that garnered national attention because it was conducted at the wrong house.

When task force investigators are online and encounter a criminal in their coverage area, they either investigate the case themselves or refer it to a cooperating department in the area where the suspect lives. If the criminal is outside southern Virginia or West Virginia, they typically refer it to whichever ICAC task force covers that area.

Blue Ridge Thunder has investigated more than 2,600 possible cases of child pornography and online solicitation since 2001. At an Internet safety task force meeting last week, U.S. Attorney John Brownlee asked why there have been just 135 arrests to date.

"Am I happy with it? No," Harmony said of the clearance rate. But many of the investigations prove to be short-lived, he said, because by the time a tip reaches police, the information they need from the Internet service provider is no longer available. In other cases, he said, prosecutors choose not to file charges.

One aspect of Blue Ridge Thunder remains unclear -- its exact location.

Harmony declined recently to say just where he, his three full-time investigators and their computers are based.

"The last thing we want somebody to do is to come out and do anything to our place." Harmony said. "I don't need anybody to sabotage what we're trying to do."