The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Tuesday that 244 child sex predators were arrested and 109 children were rescued from online sexual exploitation in a recent operation in Texas.
In a Tuesday press release, the FBI Dallas Field Office published the results of Operation Soteria Shield, which was conducted by the FBI Dallas Field Office’s North Texas Child Exploitation Task Force and the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children.
According to the press release, over 70 law enforcement agencies in Texas worked as part of Operation Soteria Shield in order to “combat the exploitation of children in the digital space.” FBI officials explained that law enforcement agencies used the “expertise of highly skilled computer crimes investigators that worked around the clock” to identify over a hundred victims and arrest child sex abuse offenders who produced, distributed, or possessed child sexual abuse materials.
The FBI said Operation Soteria Shield led to the arrest of 244 child sexual abuse offenders and the rescue of 109 children. Tuesday’s press release also noted that law enforcement officials “seized extensive volumes of digital evidence, including terabytes of illicit data stored on electronic devices that were used in the commission of these crimes” and explained that the electronic devices will be analyzed and could lead to the identification of other victims and child sex abuse offenders.
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“Operation Soteria Shield brought together over 70 agencies from across the state of Texas, including police departments, federal agencies, state and federal prosecutors, children’s advocacy centers, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. We had a common goal, which was to rescue children from abuse and exploitation,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said. “This was not an easy operation, but a necessary one. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to protect the children in our communities, and we will hold child predators accountable for their crimes.”
In another Tuesday press release, Eastern District of Texas Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Combs described the number of children rescued and the number of child sex abuse offenders arrested as part of the joint law enforcement operation as “stunning.”
“The numbers leave us breathless because, at some level, we understand that behind every statistic, every number, there is a child with dreams, aspirations, and the right to live a life free from sexual exploitation,” Combs said.
