As the Department of Justice (DOJ) shifts into gear to fight for Americans now that the Trump Administration is in charge, a major operation has rescued over 100 children from being trafficked and arrested over 200 predators, as was announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, May 7.
Announcing the operation in a press release, the DOJ noted that it not only managed to rescue the children and arrest the predators, but also managed to coordinate the operation across dozens of field offices and internal divisions, showing the scope and scale of the operation was quite substantial.
Beginning the May 7 press release, the DOJ gave the broad outlines of the operation and numbers of those saved and caught, providing, “Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country.”
Then, after naming some of the predators who were arrested and describing their particularly crimes, the DOJ gave a general overview of what those who were arrested were up to, saying, “Others arrested around the country are alleged to have committed various crimes including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, online enticement and transportation of minors, and child sex trafficking.”
Noting the nationwide scale of the operation and that everyone from illegal aliens to cops were involved in the horrid crimes, the DOJ said, “In Minneapolis, for example, a state trooper and Army Reservist was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while wearing his uniforms. In Norfolk, VA, an illegal alien from Mexico is accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex. In Washington, D.C., a former Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer was arrested for allegedly trafficking minor victims.”
Further, the DOJ reminded parents and community members that they could help fight against these awful crimes, saying, “In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice. For example, a California man was arrested about eight hours after a young victim bravely came forward and disclosed their abuse to FBI agents after an online safety presentation at a school near Albany, N.Y.”
AG Pam Bondi was quoted in the press release as vowing to continue fighting for children, saying, “The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us. I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”
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Further, FBI Director Kash Patel vowed to continue protecting kids and noted that the FBI would continue bringing its force to bear on these issues, saying, “Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us. Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”
Watch Patel speak about the operation here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video