While it is not a household name, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is part of the federal government’s Department of Justice. The OJJDP says it was recently part of a nationwide operation that included 69,000 child sex investigations.
Law enforcement officials across the U.S. arrested more than 1,000 people suspected of sex crimes involving minors. OJJDP said the total includes 32 arrests in our state with the help of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and affiliated enforcement agencies.
According to a press statement, the arrests were made over a two-month period as part of Operation Broken Heart. The nationwide effort was made to identify and take into custody child sex suspects.
Those arrested are suspected of involvement in at least one of the following:
- Possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography
- Online enticement of children for sexual purposes
- Prostitution of children or other commercial sexual exploitation of minors
- Involvement in child sex tourism, including those who are suspected of traveling overseas to engage in sex with minors
Operation Broken Heart was executed in April and May and ended with the arrests of 1,012 suspects by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC). The organization said in a statement that it has since its inception in 1998 reviewed more than 705,000 complaints of child exploitation and has made more than 75,000 arrests.
In Southwest Ohio, you can speak to a Cincinnati attorney experienced in sex crime defense by contacting Michael K. Allen & Associates to schedule an appointment.