Why Rep. Burgess Owens wants feds to investigate OnlyFans — the ‘paywall of porn’ social media platform

More than 100 House Republicans and Democrats urge Justice Department to look into alleged child exploitation

More than 100 House Republicans and Democrats, including GOP Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, urged the Department of Justice to investigate a social media platform dubbed the “paywall of porn” for allegedly facilitating child sexual exploitation.

The lawmakers called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into the the prevalence of child sexual abuse material on the website OnlyFans.com and the specific steps it takes to ensure minors are protected from exploitation. They say the network has become a “major marketplace” for buying and selling child pornography.

“We write today to call your attention to potentially illegal activity, including child sexual exploitation, that this website is facilitating,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to Garland. “With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing our kids to spend more time isolated and online, it is our responsibility to ensure children are protected from bad actors operating via the internet.”

OnlyFans is a social media network, like Instagram and YouTube. But unlike YouTube, which forbids “explicit content meant to be sexually gratifying,” and Instagram, which allows “nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures,” OnlyFans allows everything.

The content subscription service based in London allows content creators to be paid directly from their “fans” on a monthly basis as well as one-time tips and a pay-per-view feature. The platform is mainly used by amateur and professional pornographic models but also has a market with chefs, fitness enthusiasts and musicians seeking to monetize their professions and connect with fans.

Some celebrities have OnlyFans accounts, including rapper and actress Cardi B and actress, model and singer Bella Thorne, who made more than $1 million on her first day on the site.

Launched in 2016, the company claims more than 100 million users who annually pay out $3 billion to at least 1 million content creators, according to its website.

In the letter, lawmakers say the presence of sexually explicit images of children is “undeniable” and it appears OnlyFans does not have adequate safeguards or protocols in place to report such material to authorities.

Over the past two years, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has seen an increasing amount of child exploitation on OnlyFans. In 2019, it indicated it was aware of 10 cases involving missing children associated with content sold on the site. The center identified at least 80 cases in which missing children were linked with the website’s content this year, according to the letter.

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/8/11/22620758/rep-burgess-owens-others-want-investigation-of-onlyfans-paywall-of-porn-social-media-platform

Aurora police, feds announce more than 100 arrests in 2-week sting operation

AURORA | A smattering of officials from across the strata of government on Wednesday announced the conclusion of a two-week sting operation that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 people tied to a bevy of violent crimes in Aurora.

Investigators with the Aurora Police Department, the U.S. Marhsals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and several other agencies arrested 104 people between July 26 and Aug. 6 in a probe dubbed “operation restore,” according to information by Aurora Police. More than a dozen other people targeted in the inquest were apprehended shortly before or after the two-week span, bringing the total number of arrestees to 117.

Authorities began assembling the sting in April by thumbing through the most egregious and open felony warrants with Aurora ties, identifying people wanted on suspicion of crimes like murder, aggravated assault and sex assault on a child, according to Aurora Police Division Chief Terry Brown.

At least three of the investigations culminated in arrests out of state, including in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Police Chief Vanessa Wilson cited rising crime rates across the metroplex when explaining why the operation was initiated this summer.

“I think we’ve seen across the nation, startling headlines about the increase in violent crimes,” she said. “And we knew something needed to be done.”

Crime in Aurora was up about 30% in the first six months of 2021 when compared to the same time last year, according to Aurora police statistics. When stripping out burglary, larceny and car theft — the latter of which is up some 90% in the city year over year — violent crimes like assault, robbery and murder are up 22.3% through the end of June.

All told, a combination of some 70 police personnel and 40 U.S. Marshals nabbed two people wanted for murder, five people wanted for attempted murder, a dozen people wanted for aggravated robbery, another dozen wanted for felonies related to domestic violence and nine people wanted for sex crimes with underage victims, according to Brown.

“Hopefully the citizens of Aurora can sleep a little bit better knowing that these people are off the streets, especially our children,” said U.S. Marshal David Weaver. “These perpetrators are out there causing great, great harm to them.”

About a quarter of the arrests stemmed from drug charges, and half of the accused had previously been charged with crimes related to narcotics, according to DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Olesky. At least one drug trafficker accused of pushing thousands of opioid pills laced with fentanyl into the international market was also taken into custody, Olesky said.

Officials also seized nine guns and three stolen cars.

https://sentinelcolorado.com/orecent-headlines/aurora-police-feds-announce-more-than-100-arrests-in-2-week-sting-operation/

Colorado Ped Patrol chases internet child predators along the Front Range as an audience watches online

Local police discourage the vigilante stings as they worry about public safety

Tommy Fellows hands shook as he looked at the text message from a man who said he wanted to meet a teenage girl for sex.

“What are u going to wear for daddy when I pick u up?” the message said.

Fellows handed the phone back to his colleague, Celeste Hilton, who was pretending to be a 13-year-old girl.

“Does my makeup look trashy enough?” asked Hilton, who had just applied thick, black eyeliner.

She snapped a selfie, then altered the image with Face App so that she appeared 20 years younger than she actually is. Hilton texted the photo, hoping to keep the man interested in meeting her. The two started packing their backpacks inside the garage of Fellows Westminster home, where he runs Colorado Ped Patrol — a YouTube channel established to expose internet predators.

“Let’s get him. I love it,” Fellows said. “These people are all disgusting.”

Hilton jumped and shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Five months ago, Fellows created Colorado Ped Patrol, a loose group of people who set up meetings online with child predators and then livestream their encounters to expose and shame the men who prey on children. Ped Patrol’s YouTube channel has more than 19,000 followers and last month the group gained notoriety on the East Coast after Fellows traveled to Atlantic City, N.J., to participate in a sting that ensnared a Pennsylvania police officer.

But the group’s vigilante stings, which occur in places like parking lots and city parks, are drawing warnings from police and prosecutors, who say Fellows and his crew put themselves and the public in danger. Law enforcement officials also say Fellows’ tactics don’t follow proper criminal procedure, making it difficult to bring charges against alleged perpetrators.

On this day, the man chatting with Hilton sent a flurry of text messages, many of them vile, about his plans for her. He told Hilton via text that he would drive from Colorado Springs to meet her at a park in Lakewood.

“I give them multiple outs. I don’t just tell them I’m 13 once. I tell them multiple times I’m 13,” she said.

This man takes the out.

Just as Fellows and Hilton were packing their gear for the meetup, the man texted that he wasn’t coming. His message said he was only role-playing and needed someone older than 18.

The excitement evaporated.

“That’s a bummer,” Fellows said.

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/08/11/colorado-ped-patrol-tommy-fellows-police-reaction/

L.A. City Council Unanimously Votes Vaccination Requirement for Indoor Public Spaces

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted on Wednesday to require proof of getting the Chinese coronavirus vaccine in order to be allowed indoors at restaurants, gyms, and other spaces, according to a report.

The vote was to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance requiring patrons who wish to enter any indoor public spaces to have at least one dose of the vaccination, according to KTLA. As of now, it is unclear how the ordinance will look, but the attorney will have to prepare a draft for the city council to approve then.

The motion for the ordinance was introduced last week by Council President Nury Martinez and Councilman Mitch O’Farrell. It will apply to restaurants, bars, retail establishments, fitness centers, spas, and entertainment centers like stadiums, concert venues, and movie theaters, according to the report.

Martinez, in a statement, said:

It’s our responsibility to protect the public, that includes protecting them from the unvaccinated. … The decision to not get vaccinated doesn’t just affect you. We have kids under the age of 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine yet, and someone’s decision to not get vaccinated affects them as well.

O’Farrell, in a statement, “tried” to clarify that it is “not a vaccine mandate” but noted that “We need to stop fighting the science and start fighting the virus.” The councilman continued:

We’re not going to tell someone, anyone that they have to get vaccinated. We’re also not going to deny anyone the ability to access essential food, medicine… regardless of vaccination. That wouldn’t be legal, that wouldn’t be moral. … But what is immoral is choosing not to get vaccinated.

Councilman Bob Blumenfield said the city needs to make sure they are careful with some locations in the new ordinance becuase it needs to be made so that people are not denied entry to essential businesses. However, the city will also need to ask businesses for input on what places should be included.

The report noted that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday also voted to look into options for requiring proof of vaccination in some unincorporated county areas.

Councilman Paul Koretz said that “mask mandates by themselves aren’t going to get us out of this pandemic.” He added, “Becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] remains the other key action that people can take to protect themselves, their friends and their family.”

In July, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that due to the department’s “limited resources,” his department will not be enforcing the mask mandate the city put back in place. He said the city’s mandate was “not backed by science.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/11/l-a-city-council-unanimously-votes-vaccination-requirement-for-indoor-public-spaces/

Democrat Cindy Axne Claims Illegals Are Not Spreading Coronavirus

Rep. Cindy Axne (IA), the lone congressional Democrat from Iowa, during the Let’s Talk Guthrie County podcast, claimed that the illegals crossing the border are not spreading the Chinese coronavirus.

The host asked Axne about the southern border and the possible cases of Chinese Coronavirus coming from the illegal migrants:

Customers and Border Protection have apprehended more than 176,000 migrants from July 1st to July 28th of this year, more than [sic] 2000 coming from the CBP. I’d just like to get your thoughts on the border situation and ensure that these migrants aren’t coming over with [the Chinese coronavirus] and infecting U.S. citizens.

The congresswoman responded by saying it’s “not even a reality” that “people 1,300 miles away are infecting [Americans].” She added, “We all know [the Chinese coronavirus] can’t travel” 1,300 miles and mentioned that it’s because “folks are literally being detained at the border.”

Axne even blamed Americans who are not wearing masks and not getting the coronavirus vaccine for causing the virus to spread. The Iowan said it is “disingenuous” for anyone “to say that people are coming into the country and spreading” the Chinese coronavirus:

If people 1,300 miles away are infecting us with [Chinese coronavirus] we got a bigger problem then I thought. That’s not even a reality. We all know [the Chinese coronavirus] can’t travel like that and we all know as you mentioned, folks are literally being detained at the border. So to say that people are coming into the country and spreading this, is quite honest, it’s so disingenuous. What we need are people in our own communities who won’t get the vaccination, to get the vaccination, because they are the ones who are spreading it. Unfortunately, we see too many young poeple, young children, who can’t get vaccinated. Thier parents are very scared to send them back to school and I can’t blame them, it’s very scary to know your child is being exposed to a dangerous pandemic because unfortunately, others won’t wear a mask or get vaccinated. So, I’d have to look into their own communitiy becuase it’s certainly not coming in from 1,300 miles away.

Despite what Axne said on the podcast, documents from a leaked presidential briefing recently said that 20 percent of the illegal migrant children who were unaccompanied crossing the border tested positive for the Chinese coronavirus. The report showed the children tested positive after Border Patrol had released them into communities.

NBC News also reported that “Migrants are not tested for Covid in Border Patrol custody unless they show symptoms, but all are tested when they leave Border Patrol custody, according to DHS officials.”

Breitbart News exclusively reported that Axne favors federally mandating masks for children in schools. When asked at a town hall, she said that she would “check and see” what she can do “at a federal level” to mandate that children wear masks in schools.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/11/https-www-breitbart-com-politics-2021-08-11-democrats-passage-of-infrastructure-bill-is-step-toward-massive-amnesty/

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