WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officials arrested over 200 alleged child sex predators in just five days, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced during a press conference Wednesday.
The operation, a collaboration between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and 55 FBI field offices, led to the arrests of 205 alleged perpetrators, who hurt a total of 115 child victims, Bondi said.
“These depraved human beings, if convicted, will face the maximum penalty in prison,” Bondi said. “If you are online targeting a child, you will not escape us. The FBI and the Department of Justice [DOJ] will come after you, and we will prosecute you.”
Teachers, law enforcement personnel and other professionals expected to safeguard children were among those arrested, Patel said.
He offered examples of three defendants: a state trooper and former Army Reserve member in Minneapolis who was arrested for producing child sexual abuse material while in uniform, an illegal immigrant in Norfolk, Virginia who was arrested for allegedly transporting a minor across state lines and a former police officer in Washington, D.C. who was arrested for exploiting victims while on supervised release for a prior sex offense.
NOW: Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announce operation that led to arrest of 205 child sex predators in 5 days.
“These depraved human beings, if convicted, will face the maximum penalty in prison,” Bondi said. “If you are online targeting a child, you… pic.twitter.com/kuBbO1P0ka
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“You have to monitor what your kids are doing, whether they’re playing games on the internet, on social media, any other websites that children, teenagers frequent — an online predator can find them,” Bondi said.
“I always say, it’s from instant message to instant nightmare,” she continued. “Parents, they’re talking to your kids like they’re other children, and they’re not. They’re predators. They pose as children. They get them sometimes to post explicit pictures of themselves after they talk to them, and then, in some cases, they even try to blackmail the children.”
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