Twenty-seven men from Northeast Ohio have been arrested after they allegedly expressed interest in engaging in sexual activity with undercover officers those men believed to be minors during “Operation Moving Target."
CLEVELAND — Twenty-seven men from Northeast Ohio have been arrested after they allegedly expressed interest in engaging in sexual activity with undercover officers those men believed to be minors during an operation led by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force called “Operation Moving Target,” according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley.
Initial charges were filed against the individuals include attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, importuning, and possessing criminal tools.
The arrested individuals include:
The four-day operation started on Aug. 24 and ended on Aug. 27. The arrested individuals, ranging in age from 21 to 61 years old, allegedly engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with undercover officers posing as children on popular social media applications, according to a news release.
The county prosecutor alleges that the men expressed interest in engaging in sexual activity with the purported children and/or disseminated images of their genitals during these online conversations.
After the conversations, the individuals traveled to a pre-arranged location, which was a vacant house in Cuyahoga County, to engage in sexual activity, with the undercover agents posing as children.
All were arrested and taken to the Cuyahoga County Jail. Several of those arrested were in possession of firearms, condoms, lubricant, sex toys and drugs.
Each case will be presented to a Cuyahoga County grand jury.
“As we have seen the number of Cybertips dramatically increase this year, it is clear that online predators remain a serious threat to our children,” said O’Malley in a release. “Hopefully the success of yet another operation serves as a stern warning to offenders that you will be found, you will be arrested, and you will be prosecuted."
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