TBI’s ‘Operation Protecting Tomorrow’ Yields Arrests, Identifies Two Dozen Child Online Sexual Exploitation & Sextortion Victims
MAY 20, 2024
NASHVILLE – A dozen people face felony charges and two dozen victims have been identified in a large-scale, collaborative operation to target online child exploitation and sextortion in Tennessee.
Over a three-month period, from February to April, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within its Cybercrime and Digital Evidence Unit (CDEU), conducted Operation Protecting Tomorrow, with work extending to 21 counties in the state and involving almost 20 local, state, and federal law enforcement partners.
Operation Protecting Tomorrow’s purpose was to identify and locate children who were victims of sextortion and online sexual exploitation, along with identifying and arresting individuals who aim to harm children online. These investigations stemmed from cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), undercover investigations, and tips from the community.
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During the operation, TBI ICAC Task Force Agents identified and located 18 known child victims of sextortion in Tennessee who were reported through NCMEC cybertips reported from several social media platforms, including Snapchat and Instagram. One child victim was identified and located in Alabama. TBI agents are still attempting to identify and locate an additional 22 children who are victims of sextortion, aged 11 to 17.
https://tbinewsroom.com/2024/05/20/tbis-operation-protecting-tomorrow-yields-arrests-identifies-two-dozen-child-online-sexual-exploitation-sextortion-victims/