A massive operation led by a joint task force, including the Dallas FBI and dozens of law enforcement agencies across North Texas, resulted in more than 200 arrests. According to the Dallas FBI, more than 100 children, mostly from North Texas, have been rescued from online sexual exploitation and other sex crimes.
Soteria Shield has been around for a decade and in April of this year, the month-long operation led to 244 arrests, 21 of them are registered sex offenders.
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WATCH HERETuesday morning, the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI Dallas' North Texas Child Exploitation Task Force Operation spoke about the large collaboration, which involved 78 law enforcement agencies.
The FBI Dallas division, Dallas, Plano, Wylie, and Garland Police Departments helped manage the operation.
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SIGN UP “Operation Soteria Shield was a massive team effort and a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we unite around one clear mission: protecting our kids and holding offenders accountable. I am proud that the Dallas Police Department is the lead agency for the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and am grateful for the many, many agencies who contributed to this successful operation,” said Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux.
"We had a common goal, to shine a light into the darkness of child abuse and rescue children from abuse and exploitation," said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge, R. Joseph Rothrock. "109 children who were rescued, children who were once voiceless and invisible are now seen and protected."
He said the majority of the children rescued are from North Texas and the majority of the offenders are also from North Texas.
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"Children today are at risk like they've never been in the past, part of that is because the increased access predators have to children, whether that be through online gaming platforms, social media, or other apps," explained Rothrock. "So one of the things we constantly want to communicate to the public is, if you're a parent, please educate yourself, talk to your children, make sure they're educated and they understand the threats that are out there."
Rothrock said this isn't just a big city problem; they're seeing it in all-sized communities where any child can be a victim.
"While some might think this is a big city issue, we know predators cross every boundary," said Wylie Police Chief Anthony Henderson. “The trauma inflicted by these crimes runs deep, affecting not only the victims but also their families and entire communities. With every arrest made and every child protected, the operation moves us closer to a safer community. Every step forward in this operation reflects a shared commitment to protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring those who seek to exploit children are brought to justice."
During their operation, they seized 1,130 digital devices and 213 terabytes of data that included illicit material of children.
"We are here today because child predators must be stopped," said Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
She highlighted a couple of cases of two of the people arrested.
One included Harold Lee Hill from Rockwall. Larson said the FBI was assisted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Rockwall Police Department, the Arkansas State Patrol and the Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Lee was charged with transporting a minor victim with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. He's facing life in prison.
In Fort Worth, police arrested Michael Huffman. He's been charged with distributing and possessing child pornography, which included images of an adult male engaging in a sex act with a female child.
"If these images were not bad enough, as the federal complaint states, when agents went to Huffman's home for a search warrant, they found him sitting in his driveway with his laptop open with child pornography on display. By Huffman's own admission, he's been trading this sickening material for years," said Larson. She said Huffman is facing 20 years in federal prison.
Detective Richard Hoeppner, with the Fort Worth Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Division, said when it comes to these types of crimes, they receive tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
"A lot of intelligence, tracking IPs, setting off legal process, and then trying to track down where that house is to find who has that child pornography or who is producing it," explained Hoepnner. "This is not a fun unit to be in. The content is awful, and we have men and women that are dedicated within the ICAC task force that we will come find you and we will end it."
The kids abused in these crimes range in age, including toddlers and babies.
"Six-month-old baby being sexually abused is heartbreaking, not only because of the image that they were watching, that child looks at that dad as, 'You're supposed to be protecting, right?' And they're not, and then you have the other aspect of this helpless child that if it was you and I were in that situation, we could at least fight back," said Hoepnner.
He said that for a job that is quite dark, the light at the end of the tunnel is rescuing kids from abuse.
"That's our end goal, to see these kids not only be rescued, but also go and live their life and be like who they always wanted to be," said Hoepnner.
