SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — More than 20 sexual predators were arrested in a major sting operation, including a former fire captain and a Sunday school teacher.
"This is a three-day operation. These guys are out here 24/7, 365 trying to influence and entice our kids, so that's the big issue," said Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper.
Sheriff Cooper said there are no days off for child sexual predators, and in an effort to stop them in their tracks, their team known as Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) took the lead in Operation Spring Cleaning.
"Undercover detectives posed as children 13 years old and younger on various social media platforms. Suspects often directed these kids to commit sexual acts and or ask for pornographic material. Some of the suspects would send pornographic material to our undercover officers," said Sheriff Cooper.
Suspects would then arrange to meet with the intent to have sex. Many can be seen in a video taken by the sheriff's office.
The operation resulted in 24 arrests. Several of the suspects were in positions of public trust with access to children.
"We arrested a San Jose firefighter, who lives here in Sacramento, a Sunday school teacher, a United States Postal Service Worker," said Sheriff Cooper.
Another suspect was arrested in Seattle and another in Yolo County was killed by his mother before she died by suicide.
Nearly 100 officers worked the operation with 21 affiliate agencies assisting, including Homeland Security and the California Department of Justice.
"Some of the charges that were brought on these suspects were contacting a minor with an intent for sex, harmful material sent to a child, arranging to meet with a child for sex," said Sgt. Eric Steindorf, who is the Sacramento Valley ICAC Asst. Commander.
Sheriff Cooper said the biggest takeaway from the operation is for parents to know what they're kids are doing.
"It can happen to you, it can happen anywhere. Be on guard. These predators are out there, and they prey on our kids. We got to stop it," said Sheriff Cooper.
Detectives continued to do follow-up in the days after the sting and numerous search warrants were executed.
The sheriff's office also said it's been able to train about 30 other agencies in Northern California on these chats and how to do this type of work with money from the governor.
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