Eight Arrested in Grand Traverse County Child Sex Trafficking Operation

A two-day long sting operation in June led to eight arrests in Grand Traverse County, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday morning.

It’s being dubbed as Operation “TC Safe” – a two-day undercover sting operation aimed at getting sexual predators off the streets.

“We were able to partner with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office “GHOST” Team and learn the techniques and procedures they have refined for combatting online child exploitation and human trafficking,” said Grand Traverse Sheriff Tom Bensley.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson stood alongside Sheriff Bensley for the announcement. He says Genesee County has helped 42 Michigan counties in the last 18 months.

“This is not meant to scare, it’s meant to inform and educate,” said Swanson. “Predators have no boundaries. They have no boundaries of where they go, where they seek. Not a county, not a city, not even a state.” He added, “there is no corner of this county or this state or this country where predators don’t work and Sheriffs can’t go after them.”

In this case, officers got online and used apps and chat rooms, quickly finding willing participants.

“The majority of our contacts are made on the apps that you know by name. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat,” said Swanson.

https://www.9and10news.com/2022/07/01/eight-men-arrested-in-grand-traverse-county-child-sex-trafficking-operation/