Homeland Security Investigations' Operation Blue Ghost resulted in the arrest of 32 people suspected of crimes against children.
Operation Blue Ghost was an undercover child exploitation operation May 17-June 2 by HSI Kansas City and its Kansas City Child Exploitation Taskforce in and around Wichita, Kan., according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release.
"I am extremely proud of all of the special agents, analysts and officers whose hard work and dedication made this operation a success," R. Sean Fitzgerald, HSI acting special agent in charge of the Kansas City area, said in the news release. "Our joint commitment to protecting children has removed these 32 dangerous individuals from our streets and hopefully sends a clear message to others looking to harm children."
According to the news release, of those arrested during Operation Blue Ghost, 15 were from the Independence, Clay County and Platte County area areas in Mo. The undercover operation in greater Wichita led to the arrests of 17 arrests. All of the arrests involved allegations of promoting the sale of sex, aggravated human trafficking and purchase of commercial sex acts. Others face a lengthy list of charges, including felony assault on a law enforcement officer, sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, second-degree attempted statutory rape, attempted statutory sodomy and the enticement of a minor.
HSI works to protect the public from victimization crimes and its child exploitation investigations program "is a central component of this mission set," the news release said. HSI works with strong government and non-government agencies to identify and rescue child victims, identify and apprehend offenders, prevent transnational child sexual abuse and help make the Internet safer for children.
