State Police arrest over 50 in little one pornography, exploitation operation

Massachusetts State Police arrested 56 folks in a three-day sting operation concentrating on little one pornography and exploitation throughout the state, officers introduced Monday.

“If you think you may know the type of person who commits these types of crimes, I can assure you there is no profile when it comes to child exploitation,” mentioned Lt. Col. Dan Tucker, commander of the State Police Division of Investigative Providers.

“Operation Firewall brought us to nearly 40 communities across every part of the Commonwealth. We arrested successful business people, homeowners, spouses and parents of children. Fifty-five of the suspects are men, and one is a woman. The suspects arrested range in age of 18 to 75. These suspects could be your neighbors.”

Operation Firewall, performed by the State Police and regulation enforcement companions over three days final week, was designed to deal with the “growing problem of possession, production, and sharing of child sexual abuse material, as well as child enticement and other illegal activity.”

Throughout the operation, 56 folks have been arrested, 229 units have been seized from suspects and 34 residential search warrants have been executed, Tucker mentioned.

Of the arrests, 25 have been on costs of possession of kid pornography and 19 have been on costs of enticement of a kid “after communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer they thought was an underage child and agreeing to meet for sex,” Tucker mentioned.

Seven extra have been arrested on excellent warrants for failure to register as a intercourse offender and 5 on warrants for rape and assault and battery of a kid.

State Police management famous the operation was designed to reply to and convey consciousness to the speedy rise of web crimes in opposition to youngsters.

In simply the previous week, Tucker mentioned, the Massachusetts Web Crimes In opposition to Youngsters Process Drive obtained over 1,000 suggestions, “which is indicative of the trend we’ve been seeing for years now.”

In 2020, the State Police obtained 5,613 cyber suggestions, he mentioned. In 2025, the company is on observe to obtained over 20,000, an about 270% enhance during the last 5 years.

“I want our message to be clear,” Tucker mentioned. “If you are seeking to possess child sexual abuse material or to sexually assault a child, the Massachusetts State Police and our partners will find you. Operation Firewall is just the beginning. From this operation, several cases remain ongoing, and we anticipate there will be more arrests in the coming days.”

Legislation enforcement representatives referred to as the efforts within the operation “nothing short of tremendous,” noting the “enormous personal cost” to investigators reviewing this materials and dealing the circumstances.

“It’s my hope that we can continue to strengthen our statewide partnership and to continue to dedicate resources to this cause,” mentioned Berkshire County DA Timothy Shugrue, noting their ongoing “To Catch a Predator” operation during the last three years. “Through this work, we can create communities where children grow up free from exploitation.”

Any household who’s experiencing this sort of challenge, mentioned Worcester County DA Joseph Early, ought to “call the state please, call your local DA’s office, ask for the help, because we know too often this goes under the radar until there’s an effort like this to bring it forth.”