TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nine arrests were made in early February in a multi-agency operation meant to capture sexual predators in the Tucson area.
The operation, which ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, placed law enforcement personnel posing as children, ranging in ages from 7 to 16 years old, in online chat rooms. As children, they would agree to meet adults in Tucson to engage in sexual acts, according to a news release from Tucson Police.
The suspects were arrested when they arrived to meet with the child with whom they were chatting with online.
"The investigation and the arrest is just the tip of the iceberg, right?," said TPD Sergeant Lorence Jove, Jr. "We want to make sure that we're not only protecting our children, but we want to make sure that these arrests mean something."
Of those arrested, eight were men and one was a woman, ages 25 to 49. The range of charges include, luring of a minor for sexual exploitation, aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation, child sex trafficking, attempted sexual conduct with a minor, solicitation to commit sexual conduct with a minor, pandering, and transportation of a person for the purposes of prostitution.
The four-day operation was a joint effort between Tucson Police, Oro Valley Police, Marana Police, Pima County Sheriff's Department, Department of Public Safety, Pima County Attorney's Office, Arizona Attorney General's Office, Chandler Police Department, Tempe Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, United States Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Zero Abuse Project.
“I think a very open non-judgmental parental relationship with your child is really, really important because they have these things going through life, have these questions, if you can’t communicate with your child and be open with your child, they are having those conversations with someone else,” Jove, Jr. said.
