The law enforcement officials consider it a successful roundup of child sexual offenders; yet, it also demonstrates how pervasive the crime is in the North Texas region.
There were seventy law enforcement agencies that took part in Operation Soteria Shield, and on Tuesday, the results of the operation were announced by the Dallas FBI office and some of those agencies.
These are the faces of the 244 men and women who have been charged with exploiting children for the purpose of sex trafficking or pornography.
A month-long investigation into a crime that officials claim is an issue throughout the entire year has come to a close. The investigation was conducted by federal and local law enforcement.
“The number of offenders arrested and the children rescued in this operation are stunning,” Jay Combs, the U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Texas stated. “It’s stunning to hear them repeated here.”
109 children were rescued as a result of Operation Soteria Shield, which started in April.
“During this operation, many of the children recognized or rescued were previously unidentified,” Plano Police Department Assistant Chief Dan Curtis stated. “They’d never been reported missing. They had never had their abuse known to authorities.”
The operation, which began ten years ago and currently involves seventy Texas law enforcement organisations, not only resulted in arrests and rescues but also in the collection of gigabytes of child abuse pornographic material.
“What started as a small team with a bold idea has grown into something very powerful,” Greg Willis, the Collin County District Attorney stated.
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Authorities claim that in many of these cases, the sex offenders utilise technology to force their victims to transmit obscene photos and videos rather than ever meeting them in person.
According to the chief of the Dallas FBI office, online gaming platforms are being utilised in addition to social media.
“So I think for many of us, I’ll speak for my generation, we were raised to be concerned about faceless strangers that might try to contact us or cause harm on the street, but we’ve moved past that,” Joseph Rothrock, the Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge stated. “Again, predators have access to our children in our home through technology.”
Authorities warn that there are still more faces like this out there and advise families to use parental controls on any devices their children use.
