---
category: Intelligence Operation
summary: The Delta Project was the operational name for John David Norman's child
  trafficking and prostitution network, also referred to as the Odyssey Network.
tags:
- Concept
- Criminal_Operation
- Chicago
- Illinois
- Dallas
- Texas
- 1970s
- Odyssey_Network
- Child_Trafficking
---

The Delta Project was the operational name for [John David Norman](/people/john-david-norman/)'s child trafficking and prostitution network, also referred to as the [Odyssey Network](/organizations/odyssey-network/). Based initially in Chicago and later Dallas, the Delta Project operated through a system of "sponsors" connected via coded communications in the [Hermes](/organizations/hermes/) newsletter and front organizations including the [Odyssey Foundation](/organizations/odyssey-foundation/) and Educational Foundation for Youth. An FBI memo from February 1977 confirmed the Delta Project's connection to [Troop 137](/organizations/troop-137/) in New Orleans and noted that Norman's conviction in December 1976 had ended an ongoing investigation that had continued under [Phillip Paske](/people/phillip-paske/). The Delta Project was linked to [Francis Shelden](/people/francis-shelden/)'s [North Fox Island](/places/north-fox-island/) operation, [Father Bud's Boys Farm](/organizations/father-buds-boys-farm/) in Tennessee, and [John Wayne Gacy](/people/john-wayne-gacy/)'s network in Chicago through shared participants.[^1]

[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.