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Following a five-month investigation, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced Tuesday that 26 suspects were charged with promoting or possessing a sexual performance by a child.

Prosecutors say the men collected what authorities called "sickening'' videos and images of children and sometimes even infants being raped and sexually abused. The suspects allegedly traded the material over peer-to-peer file-sharing websites.

"The children seen in these images are not just located in another part of the world. Many of the images have been created here in the United States, in bedrooms and basements across our country," said Michelle Collins of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Among those arrested was substitute teacher Joshua Ruiz, seen above center, who pleaded not guilty to his charges at his Tuesday arraignment.

"He entered a plea of not guilty. He denies the allegations," said Mark Laykind, Ruiz's attorney.

The city Department of Education says Ruiz had no criminal record when he was hired in September 2008.

He was removed from teaching after his arrest.

Among those arrested were a lawyer, a worker at a child-themed restaurant and an employee at a children's shoe store.

Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has arrested 6,200 people for possession of child pornography.

"The law criminalizes the position, promotion or production of these images," said David Szuchman, the chief of the Manhattan district attorney office's Cybercrime Bureau.

"That is 800 people per year in the United States preying on our children. In the New York area during that same time period, we have made more than 200 arrests," said Homeland Security official James Hayes.

If convicted, the suspects face up to seven years in prison.