The joint sting operation, known as “Operation Tangled Web,” was conducted by the Phoenix police Human Exploitation and Trafficking unit alongside Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix police departments, FBI, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and Phoenix police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
During the sting, undercover detectives placed advertisements on websites that are “commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts” involving children. They then engaged in conversations with the suspects for weeks.
The 16 individuals, all males, allegedly “solicited and/or brokered deals for various sex acts and were subsequently arrested,” police said.
“Typically during the end of the conversation, they might want to meet up somewhere and go through with what was already suggested or solicited,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Melissa Soliz said.
‘Continuous Effort’ By Law Enforcement
The accused range from 19 to 51 years of age. They face multiple charges including child sex trafficking, attempted sexual conduct with a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, failing to register as a sex offender, and more.
“The Phoenix Police Department routinely conducts operations of this type with our local, state, and federal partners in a continuous effort to reduce the demand that fuels child sex trafficking and the exploitation of children in our community,” police said. “The suspects solicited various sex acts from minors and were arrested.”
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH), the organization received 608 contacts, either via phone calls, texts, online chats, emails, and webforms in 2020 regarding human trafficking, of which 193 cases were reported.
A total of 145 cases related to sex trafficking while 44 of those cases involved minors, according to the latest data from NHTH.
Across the entire United States in 2020, NHTH received 51,667 contacts regarding human trafficking, of which 10,583 were reported and 2,488 involved minors. California had the highest number of cases reported, according to NHTH, followed by Texas and Florida.
Elsewhere, a March report by the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) states that it had received 29,397,681 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation to its CyberTipline in 2021, marking the most number of reports it has ever received in one year. Of those calls, approximately 29,309,106 related to alleged child sexual abuse material (CSAM), 16,032 related to child sex trafficking, and 12,458 pertained to child sexual molestation.
The nonprofit organization noted that CSAM can cause victims continuing stress for decades after the sexual abuse ends, which is why it is important that they are connected with mental health and legal professionals.