Kern County child sex sting leads to 23 arrests, officials speak at press conference

23 people have been arrested in Kern County, including two victims, as part of a multi-agency human trafficking and child exploitation sting, and it’s called “Operation Bad Barbie.”

“We came together and arrested predators who are out there looking to have a sexual relationship with a child,” said Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer.

The four-day undercover operation from Aug. 9 to Aug. 12 involved 40 officers from local, state, and federal agencies including Homeland Security, the FBI and the Secret Service.

Undercover agents engaged in chat on social media sites and dating apps with offenders ranging in ages from 23 to 56 years old. Two of the suspects include the owner of a trucking company and an engineer at an oil company.

Republicans launch early voting efforts in California ahead of 2024 elections

“These predators could be anyone,” District Attorney Zimmer told KGET News.

The barrage of charges include human trafficking, pimping, pandering, arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purpose, contact with a minor with intent to commit a sex offense, abduction and possession of child pornography.

The average ages of the victims are said to be children between the ages of 11 and 14.

“Children, unfortunately talk to strangers on social media platforms, and they get drawn into situations that they’re really too immature to handle,” District Attorney Zimmer said.

Zimmer says the prime targets for sexual predators are kids in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, but keeping them safe is easier than you think.

“Pay attention to what your kids are doing,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.

Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Terry says, “Human trafficking is a real thing in our community, and it’s not something that law enforcement can deal with alone.”

https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/kern-county-child-sex-sting-leads-to-23-arrests/

7 arrested in multi-agency sex sting in Houston County

Members of multiple agency, including the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, met Tuesday to talk about the results of a recent multi-day operation aimed at removing child predators off the streets, resulting in seven arrests.

Assisting the Houston County Sheriff’s Office in “Operation Back to School” included ALEA’s Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, Dothan Police Department, Dale County Sheriff’s Office, the Houston County District Attorney’s Office 20th Judicial Circuit, representatives with Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals, the Gulf Coast Regional Task Force, the 17th Circuit Drug Task Force and Covenant Rescue Group.

HCSO Major Bill Rafferty and Investigator Chris Summerlin went over the major details of the results the joint investigation that took place between August 10 and 11.

The joint investigation, which took place between August 10 and 11, saw all seven arrests coming after each of the suspects were reported to have travelled to the Houston County area with the belief they were answering online advertisements to meet with a 14-year-old female for sex in exchange for money. The ads were posted onto online sites by undercover agents with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

The seven arrested individuals are listed as follows:

Vidal Deshon Guice, 28 of Troy

Brandon Denard Mitchell, 38 of Arlington, GA, registered sex offender

Jameson Isreal Lopez-Chanchavac, 21 of Thomasville, GA

Pierre Andra Hyck, 41 of Dothan

Wilmer Jaziel Ponce-Gomez, 26 of Ozark

Jazzmund Deonte Cunningham, 26 of Slocomb

Jakhari Isiah Martin, 28 of Dothan

According to Rafferty, each of the seven have been charged with first degree Human Trafficking, Electronic Solicitation of a Child by Computer Device and Travelling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act.

“I think one of the main things we want to get across right here is parents: pay attention to what your kids are doing, what they are on, their social media because there are predators that will come after them,” explained Rafferty. “It is quite evident by these 7 arrests that these individuals, knowing they were coming to meet a 14-year-old for illegal sex acts, chose to do so. These agencies will continue to work to take predators off the streets.”

For Summerlin, and the other agency representatives present at the press conference that work crimes against children, the reality of the situation they are seeing locally pushed them to action.

“We are seeing an overabundance of 14 to 15-year-olds juveniles involved in either being victims of or soliciting themselves,” said Summerlin. “This operation was designed to go after the people that solicit that certain age group of people. It happens in your own backyard, this is in the city limits of Dothan.”

https://www.wtvy.com/2023/08/15/7-arrested-multi-agency-sex-sting-houston-county/

EXCLUSIVE: 'Nonpartisan' Voter Registration Org Is Actually A Dem Get Out The Vote Machine, Report Says

A group styling itself as a “nonpartisan” organization strived to assist Democrats in triumphing in elections in 2020, according to a new report by watchdog group Capital Research Center (CRC) exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Despite VRP’s “nonpartisan” status, it has strategically geared its activities towards securing election wins for Democrats by focusing on specific demographics, CRC claims.

“Encouraging qualified voters to exercise their right to vote is a noble purpose, served by legitimate nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders around the country,” Lawyers Democracy Fund Executive Director Lisa Dixon, who was not involved in CRC’s report, told the DCNF. “But when supposedly nonpartisan organizations conduct get-out-the-vote efforts in a manner that seems designed to benefit one political party, voters are rightly skeptical of how fair and nonpartisan such efforts are.”

A group presenting itself as a “nonpartisan” voter registration organization worked to help Democrats win elections in 2020, according to a new report by conservative watchdog group Capital Research Center (CRC) exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The organization, called Voter Registration Project (VRP), was “commissioned” by now-White House Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta, funded by top left-wing donors and specifically aimed at winning election victories for Democrats, CRC alleges in the report. Although VRP describes itself as “nonpartisan,” it particularly targeted demographics likely to vote for Democrats and hired left-wing consultants, leading to 5.1 million new voter registrations since 2015, according to its website.

“Encouraging qualified voters to exercise their right to vote is a noble purpose, served by legitimate nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders around the country,” Lawyers Democracy Fund Executive Director Lisa Dixon, who was not involved in CRC’s report, told the DCNF. “But when supposedly nonpartisan organizations conduct get-out-the-vote efforts in a manner that seems designed to benefit one political party, voters are rightly skeptical of how fair and nonpartisan such efforts are.”

CRC highlights left-wing Political Action Committee (PAC) Mind the Gap’s (MTG) promotion of “Everybody Votes” — a covert name for Voter Registration Project — in a memo obtained by Vox. MTG is a California-based Super PAC formerly led by disgraced alleged fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, who helped write the memo advising the optimal strategy for allocating funds to support Democratic victories.

“The most effective tactic in a Presidential year by a wide margin is nonpartisan voter registration focused on underrepresented groups in our electoral process,” the memo states.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/08/15/exclusive-nonpartisan-voter-registration-org-is-actually-a-dem-get-out-the-vote-machine-report-says/

Seven police interviewed, station raided over ‘false’ non-binary gender claims

A member of the Frankston crime investigation unit was arrested by detectives from professional standards command on Monday.

Victoria Police has interviewed seven male officers accused of identifying as non-binary to exploit a $1300 force clothing allowance for women.

Under the scheme, female officers are entitled to claim about $1300 more than male colleagues.

A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed seven male officers had been interviewed over the matter, while a search warrant had been executed at a southern region police station on July 21.

“As inquiries are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the spokesperson said.

Professional Standards Command detectives arrested a member of the Frankston crime investigation unit on Monday, according to a police source not authorised to speak publicly.

Patton announced the investigation after the force noted a sharp increase in the number of officers identifying as gender-neutral over the previous year.

The claims were first raised by the @discernibleofficial Instagram page in June, which posted: “We have unconfirmed ­reports from inside Victoria Police that management is pulling their hair out after a majority of a CIU (crime investigation unit) in southern region changed their profile in the HR system to be ‘gender neutral’.”

Patton then told all members in a statement that “conduct of this sort, if validated, is not acceptable and falls far short of the standards I expect from Victoria Police members and standards of behaviour outlined in our code of conduct and Victoria Police values”.

He said the option to self-describe had been introduced about three years ago as an act of good faith to support gender diverse employees.

“This behaviour has had a significant impact on our gender diverse employees and our reputation among the Victorian LGBTIQ+ community. If validated, I will find it very disappointing that those employees have engaged in such conduct, exploiting an entitlement for those who identify as gender diverse,” Patton stated.

Officers wanting to claim the allowance, which is paid fortnightly, must now make a sworn statement if intending to self-describe as non-binary.

In March, Patton warned all police in a separate email that any breach of the force’s disciplinary code would not be tolerated.

He insisted that police would be dismissed if found to be involved in drug-taking, sexual harassment, family violence or unauthorised access of information from police databases.

He revealed 17 officers had been dismissed for misconduct over the past year, and a further 31 resigned while under investigation when they saw the “writing on the wall”.

“I want to be crystal clear. No one in this organisation is above the law,” he wrote in an email to officers across the state. “In fact, I would go as far as saying I have higher expectations for Victoria police employees than I have for anyone else.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/seven-police-interviewed-station-raided-over-false-non-binary-claims-20230815-p5dwso.html