Efforts by the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, a complex network of local, state and federal agencies, recently led to the arrest of 16 people by Mount Pleasant Police.
“We will continue to identify, investigate and prosecute those who prey on our society’s most vulnerable, our children,” Chief Deputy Tyrone Simmons said.
To protect and serve, both on and offline, is a full-time job for law enforcement that requires communication and collaboration.
“The operation, called Operation X-Posed, specifically sought out those on the internet that were soliciting children between the ages of 12 and 14 for the purpose of sex,” Simmons said.
The seven day operation landed 16 men in jail: eight traveled to Mount Pleasant and eight engaged in conversations with undercover officers.
“One of the defendants that was arrested was out of jail on bond for the same charges from our last operation that we did,” Simmons said.
MPPD is taking on a big role.
“These operations don’t really limit themselves to jurisdictional boundaries,” said MPPD Inspector Don Calabrese. “The police department in Mount Pleasant, we hosted, and we had all these other agencies come in here, and working with the attorney general’s office to keep it moving, keep it successful.”
That success has required sacrifice.
“It looks good on paper but it’s an 80-hour work week for these officers,” said Kevin Atkins with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. “They sign up, they volunteer, they don’t complain. That’s why I couldn’t be happier to work with such a wonderful group of people.”
The group is dedicated to the work they do.
However, Inspector Calabrese said protection online often goes back to attention at home.
“Ask the kids what they’re doing, have these devices in open space and encourage that dialogue,” he said. “I think that would help a lot in helping people be safe.”