HERNDON, Va. -- A new program used to catch people with child pornography can seek out illegal images on the Internet and tie them to someone's home computer.

Police said the tool has identified more than 1,000 computers in Herndon alone.

The software, called Peer to Peer, sweeps the Internet for child pornography. It's designed to identify individuals, Web sites and host servers.

When illicit images or files are found, they're flagged and police are alerted to the computer's IP address.

The information could lead officers to the home of a child predator, said Capt. Tim Evans of the Virginia State Police Department.

The software is so valuable that police said it's identified more than 20,000 computers in Virginia that contain hardcore child pornography.

Most of the offenders are found in the D.C. region, police said. Of the top cities in Virginia with the most child pornography, half are in the immediate Washington area.

More than 1,000 people in the small down of Herndon possess or trade child pornography, police said.

Residents in the area said they were disgusted.

With 39 police agencies using the Peer to Peer software in Virginia, the program has yet to be fully developed or utilized.

The problem, police said, is money.

An Alexandria delegate lobbied for more than $1 million to help fund police departments, but has yet to receive the money.

Without full funding, few arrests have been made. Still, police said they're tracking the keystrokes of thousands of suspects.