More than 70 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse were arrested or are subject to arrest warrants after the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Operation Spring Cleaning.
The operation, conducted between April 5 and 19, was “focused on identifying and arresting predators who use the internet to facilitate the sexual abuse of children, to rescue children from predators and to ensure registered sex offenders were compliant with their registration requirements,” the SBSD said in a news release.
Through nearly 500 compliance checks, searches for child pornography and other contraband, and undercover operations, 73 people were arrested or had an arrest warrant issued for them.
The warrants include charges of:
- Failure to register as a sex offender
- Rape
- Lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old
- Contacting a minor for lewd purpose
- Arranging to meet a minor for the purpose of committing a sex crime
- Arranging to meet a minor for purposes of committing a sex crime and showing up at the meeting place and time
- Possession of child pornography
- Distributing child pornography
- Felon in possession of a firearm
Additionally, the Sheriff’s Department “rescued multiple children from ongoing abuse,” officials said.
Anyone with information about out-of-compliance sex offenders in San Bernardino County is asked to call 909-387-8313.
To report information anonymously, call WeTip at 1-888-78-CRIME or visit wetip.com.
