At least 10 people arrested in multi-agency child sex crimes sting

The Goose Creek Police Department has arrested at least 10 individuals as part of a multi-agency investigation into internet crimes against children.

Operation Caught by Cupid was conducted from February 13 through 17.

“The operation utilized social media platforms to find individuals that were actively pursuing

vulnerable children in hopes of sexually abusing them,” GCPD said.

Reports say GCPD secured a home in Goose Creek where at least five subjects allegedly traveled to the home to have sex with a juvenile.

Since the operation wrapped, five additional suspects have been arrested, and six suspects have warrants out for their arrest.

Arrests for those individuals range from:

Criminal Exploitation of a Minor.

Criminal Solicitation of a Minor.

Unlawful to Disseminate Obscene Material to a Person Under 18.

Attempted Criminal Sexual Contact with a Minor.

Twenty subjects across the United States are being investigated following Operation Caught by Cupid.

While initiated by the Goose Creek Police Department, the operation is receiving support from:

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Homeland Security Investigations.

The United States Secret Service

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigations Service).

Mount Pleasant Police Department.

Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Moncks Corner Police Department.

Lexington Police Department.

Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.

Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

https://www.counton2.com/news/crime/at-least-10-people-arrested-in-multi-agency-child-sex-crimes-sting/

Homeland Security identifies 311 child victims of sexual exploitation in 'cold cases'

DHS investigators and more than a dozen global partners combed through sexually graphic internet material, some decades old, involving children on the dark web.

More than a dozen international law enforcement organizations worked together under U.S. leadership to identify and locate victims of child sexual exploitation in a just-completed operation that officials say is likely the most successful of its kind.

In the three-week “surge” known as Operation Renewed Hope, which began July 17, investigators combing through sexually graphic internet material involving children, much of it on the dark web and some of it decades old, made probable identifications of 311 child victims and confirmed the rescue of several victims from active abuse.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, took the lead in the operation, which included representatives from the Justice Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, Interpol and Europol, as well as 13 law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada and countries in Europe and South America.

In many of the cases in which victims have been identified, HSI officials told NBC News that the material had existed for many years, but investigators were previously unable to identify the child victims or the adult abusers. Thanks to new facial recognition and artificial intelligence technology, there are now fresh leads in these formerly cold cases.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/homeland-security-identifies-311-child-victims-sexual-exploitation-rcna97357