Suspected sex trafficker arrested with nine others accused of sex crimes
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BOISE — An effort between federal, state and local agencies has led to the arrest of 10 people accused of various sex crimes including sex trafficking of a minor.
The joint operation was conducted Friday, March 16, through early Monday, March 19. All 10 suspects were booked into the Ada County Jail
Of the 10 people arrested, five are facing state charges. The other five are facing federal charges. According to a news release from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, two have been charged with enticement of a child through the use of the internet, two were charged with attempted lewd conduct with a minor and one was charged with both enticement of a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
Of those facing federal charges, one is accused of sex trafficking of a minor and the other four are charged with enticement of a minor.
“I want to commend the participating agencies for their teamwork and expertise in organizing and executing this operation,” Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in the news release. “Collaborations like this are an important tool in our ongoing work to protect children from online predators.”
The operation was organized and supervised by the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho. it was part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is extremely pleased with the results of the joint operations,” U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis said in the news release. “Project Safe Childhood has been a Department of Justice priority since 2006. Working with our local PSC partners we protect children by investigating and prosecuting online sexual offenses involving minors, which is what occurred this past weekend.”
The state and local agencies that participated in the operation were the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Ada County Emergency Management, Idaho State Police, Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, Boise Police Department, Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office, Garden City Police Department and the Nampa Police Department.