FRESNO, CA (KMJ) — The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 34 Central Valley men who detectives say tried to solicit sex from children.
“Operation COVID Chat Down” was a multi-agency effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that spanned between July 20th and August 2nd.
FCSO says COVID-19 has pushed more kids to spend more time online, making them more vulnerable to predators. This year, there have already been nearly twice as many accused pedophiles arrested as there were in all of 2019.
The 34 men arrested in ‘Operation COVID Chat Down’ range from 19 to 63 years old.
Detectives posed as 12 and 13-year-old children online to catch these men.
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says of them traveled into Fresno from elsewhere in the Central Valley, thinking they were meeting up with children.
Many were already convicted sexual predators.
One of them, for instance, 55-year-old Thomas Binford of Clovis, had been arrested before for sexually assaulting a child and is a registered sex offender.
He was arrested again in this sting operation for trying to meet with a child for sex. Detectives say when they got to his house, they found him with child pornography that included images of infant bondage and infant rape.
Detectives say another man who planned to have unprotected sex with a 13-year-old girl admitted to being HIV positive.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Midori Howo says that of the 34 men arrested, only 9 remain in jail.
22 bonded out, and 3 are out on pre-trial release.
Sheriff Mims says during the operation, 190 men continued talking with the detectives posing as children, even after the detectives said they were 12 or 13 years old.
Mims says many of those men who weren’t arrested asked for pictures after being told they were chatting with a pre-teen.
The DA’s office says that because children are spending more time online due to the coronavirus, they are more likely to encounter a predator. Additionally, they are more likely to be bored and easily convinced to meet up with that predator.
Another problem, Howo says, is that if kids aren’t in school, they don’t have anyone to tell about molestation by a family member.
“Good teachers will notice if something seems off,” Howo explained, “but that can’t happen over Zoom.”
ICAC detectives say online predators often pretend to be someone else to lure children in and take advantage of them.
The Sheriff’s Office says you should report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement right away, or file a cyber tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
