LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Wednesday announced the arrests 139 alleged predators across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
“Operation Online Guardian” ran for 11 days between July 10 and 21 and was aimed at rescuing children from their abusers, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which spearheaded the 102-agency taskforce.
“The goal of the operation was to identify and arrest predators who are using the internet to facilitate the sexual abuse of children and to rescue children from (the) predators,” the LAPD said.
Through undercover operations and search warrants, the taskforce arrested 139 people on suspicion of crimes including:
- sodomy of a child under 10 years of age;
- continuous sexual abuse of a child;
- lewd acts with a child;
- meeting a minor for lewd purposes/sex;
- contact/attempt contact with minor for sex;
- sending obscene matter to a child for sex;
- penetration with a foreign object by force or fear;
- sodomy;
- possession of child sexual abuse material;
- distribution of child sexual abuse material;
- child annoying;
- failure to register as a convicted sex offender;
- violation of conditions of parole; and
- violation of conditions of probation.
“Child exploitation is one of the most horrendous crimes affecting our most vulnerable members of the community,” Joseph McNally, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said at a Wednesday morning news conference at LAPD headquarters. “Through these crimes, predators target those who can’t protect themselves.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore was also among many law-enforcement officials at the news conference.
“These investigators will tell you that all one needs to do — as we do in the first step in going undercover and looking at these platforms — is to see the horrific volume of predators that are actively pursuing the opportunity to identify vulnerable victims and to abuse them, and to destroy their lives,” Moore said.
Several local police departments participated in the operation including Glendale, Long Beach, Laguna Beach, Burbank, Redondo Beach, Montclair and San Bernardino, along with sheriff’s representatives from Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties and officials with Homeland Security Investigations.
“The LAPD ICAC unit, as the lead agency, is the primary clearing house for all CyberTips, associated to the five southern California counties, received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” the LAPD said.
“The CyberTips include reports from various Internet Service Providers and citizens reporting incidents that involve the possession, distribution and manufacturing of child sexual abuse material, and the online sexual exploitation of children,” the LAPD added.
The operation was executed in two phases, police said.
“The first phase included proactive undercover investigations on a variety of social media platforms,” police said. “The second phase included the service of multiple residential search warrants throughout the five counties, in addition to arrest warrants, which focused on child predators.”
“During the operation, our dedicated investigators demonstrated their unwavering commitment and compassion as they embarked on a critical mission to protect the innocent,” the LAPD said.
“Through their diligent efforts, vulnerable children were rescued from further abuse, and victims who had been silenced by the atrocious crimes of child sexual abuse found their voices restored,” the LAPD said.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Program was developed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The mission of the program is to assist local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies with investigating internet-related crimes against youth.
“Although Operation Online Guardian has concluded, the LA ICAC Task Force will remain vigilant and continue their mission to protect our children,” the LAPD said.
“Despite the numerous resources that assist the LA ICAC Task Force in the battle against the sexual exploitation of children, there are victims who are unnoticed,” the LAPD said. “Therefore, we are asking the community for their help in this fight.”
Police used the operation to encourage the community to help protect children from would-be predators by taking precautions and reporting suspicious activity.
“The internet has become an integral part of our lives and parents/caregivers should be aware of
the potential dangers that exist on the internet,” the LAPD urged. “Parents and caregivers can help protect their children by educating themselves and their children on the dangers of the internet, monitoring your children’s internet usage, and having an open dialogue with your children to navigate around child predators. ”
The community is encouraged to visit: www.Missingkids.org/NetSmartz for educational internet safety tips and activities. The community may also report potential child sexual abuse activity and have the harmful matter removed via the service “Take it Down” hosted on the website www.takeitdown.ncmec.org.
“By reporting the potential child sexual abuse activity, you are giving a potential victim a voice when they are often silenced due to circumstance,” LAPD officials said.
