Over 50 suspected predators arrested, 28 children rescued in porn & online solicitation sting
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - A child porn and online solicitation investigation netted more than 50 suspected predators and more importantly, rescued 28 children from abusive situations.
More than 30 law enforcement agencies were involved in the investigation. Between Jan 16. and Feb. 10, these agencies brought together computer crimes investigators to focus resources on the identification and rescue of children in communities who fall prey to the darkness of online predators.
These investigators partnered together to seek out victims and apprehend abusers who were trafficking illegal images and videos of children forced into sexual acts.
There's one man who makes these investigations his mission in life.
It's the latest collection of men and women Plano police detective Jeff Rich has built criminal cases on for child pornography or online solicitation of a minor, but every operation he takes part in elicits the same reaction.
"Sadness, to be quite honest, that many individuals who are exploiting children are in our communities," Rich said.
The veteran detective is as good as they come at mining data from photos and videos then tracing them to their sources.
Operation Janus involved 33 Texas law enforcement agencies that he organized. The result not only put 58 people behind bars but also rescued 28 children from situations where they were being sexually abused or at risk of it.
"We see the worst of society, the darkness in society, and to be able to shine light into that darkness and rescue these children I think is hugely important I can't imagine doing another job," Rich said.
Rich's electronic forensic work has been called on across the nation and by Interpol.
He has been overseeing investigations like this for 20 years.
When asked if this crime, maybe society's most deplorable, is more commonplace now than it was in the past, "I struggle with that question actually," Rich said. "I don't know if it's becoming the worst problem we're doing better. Child exploitative material is becoming more and more prevalent just because of the ability of people to share this information back and forth electronically."
Rich's job forces him to look at sickening images that are impossible to forget.
But he says it's his calling to protect children and will soon be back in his crime lab where he says more arrest warrants are coming related to the operation.