Police said 10 men are accused of soliciting what they believed were minors in Fairfax County, Virginia, after a multiday undercover operation called “Spring Bloom.”
Detectives with Fairfax County’s Child Exploitation Unit, working in partnership with D.C. police and the FBI, posed as children on various online platforms. They said the suspects arranged to meet who the men believed was a child for a sexual encounter in Fairfax County, only to be met by police.
Maj. Kevin White, assistant commander of the Violent Crime Suppression Unit, said the suspects knew the people they intended to meet were underage.
“Our detectives … often do clearly state that they’re underage. There’s no misunderstanding there,” he said at a Monday news conference announcing the arrests.
, who range in age from 21 to 64, come from varied backgrounds, professions.
Altogether, the men face 22 charges, including 19 felony counts related to sexual offenses involving minors. Police said none of the men had faced charges like this before.
All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
White said one reason police publicize these operations and arrests is to raise awareness about the dangers children face online.
“I think it’s safe to say that any social media site that your children could go on — games, social media sites, platforms — are possible risks and dangerous to your children,” adding that parental involvement is the most effective way to protect children online.
“It does reside, oftentimes, with that parent involvement and just being active and proactive with what their kids are doing and who they’re communicating with,” White said.
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