{"id":156115,"date":"2021-04-07T18:56:36","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T22:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=156115"},"modified":"2021-04-07T19:06:46","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T23:06:46","slug":"operation-home-alone-leads-to-arrests-of-10-child-predators-in-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/operation-home-alone-leads-to-arrests-of-10-child-predators-in-south-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Operation Home Alone\u2019 leads to arrests of 10 child predators in South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

YORK COUNTY, SC – Ten potential child predators have been arrested. For multiple days during the month of March, the York County Sheriff\u2019s Office along with 13 other state and federal law enforcement agencies participated in an online child exploitation investigation called \u201cOperation Home Alone\u201d.<\/p>\n

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This operation was a joint effort between multiple law enforcement agencies across the Carolinas which includes the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, South Carolina Attorney Generals\u2019 Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations, US Secret Service, York Police Department, Rock Hill Police Department, Fort Mill Police Department, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Charleston Police Department, Lancaster County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office, and Orangeburg County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

At any given time, there were 25-40 officers, analyst, and additional staff members working diligently during this operation. \u00a0Officers were online in numerous social media applications and were contacted by these suspects.<\/p>\n

Seven of the ten arrestees, dubbed as travelers, actually came to the residence or attempted to come to the residence of the operation. These men believed they were traveling to a location to have a sexual encounter with a minor. The ages of the children they thought they were coming to have sex with were 10 to 17-years-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our communities safe, we want our internet safe,\u201d said Sheriff Kevin Tolson. \u201cIf these suspects had not been identified and arrested talking to an officer, they would likely have been talking to a live child victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

These suspects target children online. More often than not, they have been a hands-on offender at some point with a victim who may or may not have ever come forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message we need to communicate to parents in our community is, it\u2019s extremely important to know what your children are doing on their phones,\u201d said Sheriff Tolson. \u201cKnow what your child\u2019s passwords are, know what apps they are using, and check them from time to time to see who they are talking with in chat rooms or texts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional suspects are still being identified. Once they are positively identified and located, they will be arrested. The investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n