FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2015
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Albuquerque, NM – The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force of the New Mexico Attorney General’s office served 41 search warrants, arrested 24 alleged predators and rescued two children from internet pornographers during a two-month-long national push to lock up child predators that involved more than 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The initiative, “Operation Broken Heart II” also included reaching 8791 persons in internet safety education and outreach events in New Mexico.
“I commend the ICAC task force for its efforts and leadership,” said New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas of the initiative. “Because of the task force, our communities are safer. ICAC has reached out to children and their parents in events designed to increase awareness of the dangers of the child pornographers living in our communities.”
New Mexico’s efforts were part of a coordinated law enforcement effort focusing on arrests and on increased Internet safety education and outreach.
The New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force operation was concentrated on offenders who: (1) possess, manufacture, and distribute child pornography; (2) engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes; (3) engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children (commonly referred to as child prostitution), and (4) engage in child sex tourism (traveling abroad for the purpose of sexually abusing foreign children).
All participating ICAC task forces including New Mexico’s will compile arrest statistics from Operation Broken Heart II and share them with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in Washington, D.C.
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