A four-day undercover investigation involving the GBI, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies, led to the arrest of 19 people this week, aged 21-to 68-years-old, for human trafficking.
Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman announced the operation on Wednesday, which occurred from April 24-28. Most of the suspects are from west Georgia and east Alabama. However, one was from Illinois and there was even one from Canada. according to the GBI.
The goal of “Operation Lights Out” was to identify persons who engage in sexually explicit communication with children on the Internet, arrange to engage in a sex act with the child, and then travel to meet the child for the purpose of having sex. Additionally, the operation targeted those who are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor. Online child predators use social media sites, messaging apps, and websites on the Internet to find children, begin conversations with them, introduce sexual content, and arrange a meeting with the child for the purpose of having sex. Boys and girls are both targeted by these predators.
Twelve law enforcement agencies, all partners in the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force, participated in “Operation Lights Out.” They were:
- Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office
- Georgia Bureau of Investigation (Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, Georgia Information and Sharing Analysis Center, West Georgia Gang Task Force).
- Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office
- Jasper County Sheriff’s Office
- Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office
- Polk County Police Department
- Homeland Security Investigations
- United States Army Criminal Investigations Division
- Gwinnett County Police Department
- Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
- United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- United States Secret Service