205 Arrests Made by Task Force Targeting Sexual Exploitation of Children

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Authorities Monday announced that 205 arrests were made during "Operation Online Guardian" -- a multi-agency law enforcement effort in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties targeting predators who sexually exploit minors via the internet.

The operation was conducted from Aug. 12-23 by personnel assigned to the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said at a news conference Monday morning at LAPD headquarters.

The ICAC Task Force Program was developed by the United States Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Hamilton said.

"The mission of the ICAC Task Force Program is to assist local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies with investigating internet related crimes against our youth," Hamilton said. "Currently the ICAC TaskForce Program consists of 61 coordinated task forces and over 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement members."

The Los Angeles Regional ICAC Task Force, which is led by the LAPD, covers Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties, and is comprised of 102 affiliate agencies, Hamilton said.

The LAPD ICAC unit, as the lead agency, is the primary clearing house for all CyberTips, associated to the five southern California counties that are received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"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," Hamilton said.

During the weeks of Aug, 12-23, 2024, the LA ICAC Task Force orchestrated the Operation Online Guardian, a multi-agency operation designed to identify and arrest predators who are using the internet to facilitate the sexual abuse of children and to rescue children from such predators, Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the operation was executed in two phases:

-- The first phase included proactive undercover investigations on a variety of Social Media platforms.

-- 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.

The LA ICAC Task Force included personnel from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, the LAPD's Gang and Narcotics Division, and various LAPD Vice Units.

Arrests were made for offenses that included:

-- 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.

Hamilton said specific arrest figures for individual counties were not immediately available.

Although Operation Online Guardian has concluded, Hamilton vowed that the LA ICAC Task Force would remain vigilant and continue their mission to protect children.

And he urged parents and caregivers to educate themselves and their children on the dangers of the internet, and to monitor their children's internet usage and have an open dialogue with them.

More information is available at www.Missingkids.org/NetSmartz for educational internet safety tips and activities.

The community may report potential child sexual abuse activity and have the harmful matter removed via the service "Take it Down" that is hosted on the websitewww.takeitdown.ncmec.org.