DECATUR, Ga.– A total of 82 people were arrested, and 17 children were rescued or identified as victims, during a mutually coordinated operation between eight southeastern states, including Maryland and Virginia.
Maryland State Police say seven of those arrested traveled for the purpose of meeting and having sex with a minor.
The investigation was called Operation Southern Impact III. It was coordinated by 10 Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces in those eight states and focused on persons who possess and distribute child pornography and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the Internet.
The planning for Operation Southern Impact III began approximately four months ago and culminated in three days of investigative actions to include search warrant executions, undercover operations, arrests and sex offender compliance verification visits in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Police say four people arrested were from Maryland.
A total of 171 law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies participated in the operation.
Police say those arrested ranged in age from 20 to 70. Some of their occupations included restaurant employee, fireman, shipping company employee, small business owner, railroad company employee, store clerk, IT specialist, youth minister, construction worker, graphic designer and students. During the operation, 134 search warrants were executed, and 215 knock and talks were conducted in those eight states. During those search warrants and knock and talks, 861 digital devices were previewed and 1,613 digital devices were seized. Of those devices seized 203 were mobile phones.
These investigative actions resulted from both reactive cases such as cybertips received by each ICAC Task Force from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and proactive cases such as peer-to-peer investigations and proactive, on-line undercover investigations. Daily each task force receives numerous cybertips from NCMEC related to online child exploitation.
During Operation Southern Impact III, the investigations related to 248 cybertips were progressed through the execution of these search warrants and knock and talks, and through the seizure of digital devices which will be forensically processed in the coming weeks. There were 22 internet safety presentations or related events held during the operation as well.
The National ICAC Task Force Program consists of over 4,000 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, other related criminal justice agencies and prosecutor’s offices.
