245 arrested in U.S.-led child sex abuse operation

[alp227]

Source: CNN

An international operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed at child pornography and sexual abuse has resulted in the arrest of 245 suspects, officials announced Thursday. All but 23 of the suspects were apprehended in the United States.

The agency said that during the course of Operation Sunflower, law enforcement officers identified 123 victims of child exploitation and removed 44 of those children from their alleged abusers with whom they were living. The other cases involved victims who were exploited by people outside their homes or children who were harmed years ago and are now adults.

Several of the children were shockingly young. Five were under age 3. Nine were between the ages of 4 and 6. Of the 123 victims, 110 lived in the United States in 19 different states. ICE officials did not identify the six other countries where victims were identified or where some of the arrests were made, citing the need to work discreetly with international law enforcement partners.

According to ICE, some of those arrested during Operation Sunflower were registered sex offenders.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/us/ice-child-abuse-arrests/index.html

[SharonAnn]

1. I'm so glad they're working hard on finding these perpetrators.

[kestrel91316]

2. I wonder how many more REAL criminals like this could be brought to justice if the DOJ quit going

after cannabis users??????????

[duhneece]

5. Amen. nt

[freshwest]

3. Glad they are catching some of these scumbags. They ruin lives.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

11. Yep. Entire lives.

[mzmolly]

20. .... For generations,

no less.

[freshwest]

22. Yes.

[another_liberal]

7. Make sure no children . . .

Make sure no children see you acting so brutally insane; in fact, you should think about talking to someone who can help you.

[freshwest]

13. Sorry, but if you don't delete this, you will be alerted and tombstoned if you haven't been already.

No advocacy of violence of any kind is allowed at DU.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

19. I deleted but I can't imagine that any parents (I'm one) don't feel the same

way I do. Especially if it was their own kids.

[freshwest]

21. I do, but there is more than one way to eliminate such persons from society.

Glad you deleted, although we all feel rage and disgust, we have the FBI, etc. who know more than enough how to remove these characters from our midst and I am glad my taxes go to pay for them doing this work. Like first responders, it takes a heavy toll on them.

We had another thread describing the feelings of one of the agents who did this investigation. I've seen a lot in my life. I cannot say that it does not blight one's view of life. And other human beings.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

23. The emotions of first responders is a great example of how I feel...

regardless of if I'm there or not. I would think that it's more than human to feel that way about adults who sexually abuse children.

[freshwest]

24. It's unhealthy to dwell on it personally and unproducitve professionally.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

27. Whose dwelling on it. I just read about it here tonight.

[freshwest]

30. You'll have to find someone else to talk with on this thread. Have a nice night.

[another_liberal]

6. It is good to know . . .

It is good to know that the F.B.I. hasn't been spending all of its time harassing and busting eco-activists and Occupy Wall Street people.

[sheshe2]

8. These people are animals, and belong in a cage. They are void of human souls.

I hope these children will get the care they need. I truly hope that they are not damaged beyond repair!

So very sad!

[Marrah_G]

9. Monsters

[SummerSnow]

10. Nasty motherfuckers

[ReRe]

14. As long as I live, I will never understand man's inhumanity to man...

K&R

..it always baffles me. Almost on a daily basis now. Children are killed in wars, children are killed in schools, on the streets, in their homes. Children are abused in every way know to man both here and abroad, sexually and psychologically. Children even kill children and themselves by guns laying around where they can get their hands on them. And there's the innocent adults who are also killed before their time, both by guns and by laws that prevent them from getting the care they need for their CURABLE health problems.

This is the main reason I am not a member of organized religion anymore. If there's a God up there and He's so all powerful, how can He stand idly by and let all of this happen here on earth? It just seems to me He's not up there anymore. It's almost like God passed on and nobody told us. No, He's not up there. He's here in us, and it appears we are not doing what needs to be done to stop it. No, I can't blame God. I can only blame mankind for these horrible atrocities. I'm sorry, I cannot forgive mankind, especially for the killing of the innocents.

My heart goes out to all of these sexually & psychologically abused individuals who are being and were captured and saved by ICE. This is what they need to be doing more of. I'm sure the ones they have captured only scratches the surface of this problem. The civilized world has to rise up and and stop the atrocities.

Forgive me for this long rant. It just rolled out of me and I can't help myself.

[Tx4obama]

15. Kick! n/t

[JDPriestly]

16. Horrors!

[siligut]

17. For 44 children someone finally answered their only wish

What is done to these young minds to keep them quiet and compliant is not easy for most people to comprehend.

[Odin2005]

18. I wish there were a hell so these monsters could burn in it for all eternity.

[Egnever]

25. Thats a pretty good haul

245! Holy Moses!

That's a lot of sick people.

[alp227]

26. I learned from a local radio station that one of the arrested was from MY city. Creepy.

[proverbialwisdom]

28. ICE News Release

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1301/130103washingtondc.htm

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. What makes these people do this to children?

Big business? I'm glad that they caught them.

[alp227]

32. A combination of pathology and greed.

Chances are: these pervs are part of other organized crime like gangs/drug dealers.

[wordpix]

31. maybe this is why ICE hasn't gone after the scum who are intimidating one of my employees

to the point she had to move out of her home.

[Loudly]

33. Guns and ammo KILL children. How about shutting those down with equal zeal?

No sorry. Guns and ammunition are "wholesome."

[4Q2u2]

34. They are EveryWHERE

One of the people arrested was the Director of Childrens Hospital in Boston. He was also the physician of record at Phillips Andover Academy. The Blue Bloods will not be to happy about that, their Ivory walls and towers have been invaded.

[zazen]

35. holy crap!!

Maybe this has absolutely nothing to do with the following, but there was a Dr. Levine (Steven?) who wrote the highly successful education book _All Kinds of Minds_ and had been a physician at some hospital in Boston, I think. He was down at Carolina with a nice appointment and there was this huge multiinstitutional partnership going after a multimillion dollar NSF grant for a center focused on his work. Then, a bunch of men came out saying that he had molested them during pediatric visits years ago.

The day he was due to begin trial he killed himself. It was a couple of years ago.

I always thought how awful it would be had he been innocent--how betrayed he would have felt.

I only raise this because, if he really had been guilty (and the evidence overwhelmingly seems that he was, although he was never convicted), don't pedophiles by definition try to hook up with other ones? Seems like he'd know the ones who travelled in these Boston circles, and that they'd know about him.

[MADem]

36. He was NOT "The Director of Childrens Hospital in Boston."

He was a childhood endocrinologist and he had privileges there--he was not running the joint, not by a long shot. Phillips, where he had the title of "Medical Director," decided to "let him go" for unstated reasons a while back.

Sheesh--don't make it worse than it already is.

Accurate report: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2012/09/13/boston-children-pediatrician-and-former-medical-director-phillips-academy-andover-charged-with-receiving-child-pornography/6qUMX9lhMGai4RprFBvjaM/story.html

[zazen]

37. thx for clearing that up n/t

[4Q2u2]

38. You are right

I crossed erred on the positions and it already is worse. He is being investigated for producing it as well. Leave it up to the Blue Bloods to hide their dirty laundry and quietly shuffle off problems so others have to deal with them.