47 Victims Rescued, 102 Arrested in Multi-State
Human Trafficking Operation
By Allen Zhong
August 28, 2021
Epoch Times
(Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)
A human trafficking operation joined by 12 states has rescued 47 victims and arrested 102 persons, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced on Friday.
“Using both buyer-centric and victim-centric ‘sting’ human trafficking operations, Missouri and participating states were able to rescue 47 victims and sex workers and provide needed medical services to 41, and arrested 102 across the country in connection with human trafficking,” the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
According to the information provided by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, the operation rescued victims and made arrests in 12 states.
Missouri: 4 victims rescued, 2 arrests made
Illinois: 1 victim rescued, 3 arrests made
Iowa: 11 arrests made, a large amount of currency has been seized
Kentucky: 21 adult victims rescued, 2 minor victims rescued, 46 arrests made
Minnesota: 8 victims rescued, 3 arrests made
Nebraska: 7 arrests made
North Dakota: 6 victims rescued, 3 arrests made
Oklahoma: 1 victim rescued, 7 arrests made
Tennessee: 4 arrests made
Texas: 4 victims rescued, 2 arrests made
Wisconsin: 5 arrests made
South Dakota: 9 arrests made
The operation, Operation United Front, was led by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol and joined by various law enforcement departments from Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
The Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI also joined the efforts.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office served as the main communications hub to coordinate other states’ operations, while each state conducted its own operation simultaneously.
Missouri also offered training and information about how to best conduct these operations to participating states.
“Operation United Front was an unprecedented human trafficking operation that brought together law enforcement agencies from different jurisdictions—something that rarely happens. When we all come together, we can affect change and more effectively fight human trafficking, a crime that is often multi-jurisdictional in nature,” Schmitt said.
According to data collected by the FBI, there were 1,883 human trafficking offenses reported in 2019, with 875 of the offenses cleared or closed, including 18 offenses that involved minor victims under the age of 18.
The term “cleared” or “closed” usually means the law enforcement departments have made arrests, the suspects have been charged, cases have been turned over to the court for prosecution, or the offender has been identified.
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St. Albans, Maine man pleads guilty on child sexual assault charge
BY TAYLOR ABBOTT
MORNING SENTINEL
A man from St. Albans is serving a nine-month sentence at the Somerset County Jail after pleading guilty to three charges earlier this week.
According to a statement Friday by Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster, Ashton McKenney, 22, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of sexual abuse of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a minor and assault. The charges are each class D offenses.
Lancaster said that his office received a complaint on Jan. 1, where a report was made of an alleged sexual assault that occurred in St. Albans on Dec. 30, 2020. Detective Jeremy Leal was assigned to the case.
“It was reported by parents that their child, under the age of 16, had allegedly been sexually assaulted by an adult male,” Lancaster said. “The investigation also revealed that McKenney allegedly assaulted another juvenile under the age of 16 and was charged with assault.”
Leal’s investigation identified McKenney as the suspect in question. After multiple interviews conducted with the sheriff’s office and the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office, McKenney was charged.
On the sexual abuse of a minor charge, McKenney was sentenced to serve nine months at Somerset County Jail in East Madison followed by a year of probation. Conditions of probation include no use or possession of alcohol or illegal drugs, submitting to random searches and testing for alcohol and illegal drugs, no contact with the victims, and complete evaluation and counseling as directed for both substance abuse and sex offender counseling.
He was also sentenced to five days for each of the other two offenses, to be served concurrently with the first count. McKenney must also pay a $300 fine.
With his guilty plea, McKenney will now be a tier 1 registrant of the State of Maine Sex Offender Registry for 10 years.
9 months! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
State approved renewal months before foster parent
was charged with child sex assault
Andrew Wegley
Aug 28, 2021
Journal Star
Graciano Lopez — the former Lincoln foster care parent and magic shop owner who has been charged with sexually assaulting children in his care — was relicensed earlier this year despite facing unrelated criminal charges in October 2020.
Lopez, too, was recommended for relicensing by the Cedars Home for Children after that agency completed a study on the 42-year-old's house in January, where police allege he repeatedly sexually assaulted at least two of his foster sons for several years.
One of Lopez's foster children told police that his first sexual encounter with the man came before he was ever placed in Lopez's care, according to an initial arrest affidavit. The other foster child told investigators he was assaulted by Lopez more than 30 times, according to court records.
The alleged assaults involving Lopez's foster children started in summer 2017 and stretched to March 2021, when one of the children contacted the state Department of Health and Human Service to report the ongoing assaults.
Over the same time frame, the 42-year-old remained in good standing with the agencies that placed the children in his care, emails and records obtained by the Journal Star via a public records request show.
"Was this foster parent getting the training that he was supposed to be getting? ... Was he getting that license?" asked Dr. John DeGarmo, a Georgia-based foster care consultant and the founder of the Foster Care Institute, in a phone interview with the Journal Star.
"There's a number of red flags for me that says this is one of those cases that could have been prevented by doing what caseworkers and agencies are supposed to be doing."
The investigation into Lopez began when his foster son contacted the DHHS hotline March 19 to report that he'd been sexually abused, Lincoln police announced in April.
Investigators interviewed and arrested Lopez on April 13 as police searched for additional victims.
In July, the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office charged Lopez in cases involving five more boys between the ages of 11 and 15. Officer Erin Spilker said Lopez came in contact with some of the boys at Jolly Bean’s Magic Castle. At least one of the additional five boys had previously been placed in Lopez's care by the state, according to court filings.
Eight months before he was charged, as Lopez's 2020 reckless driving case was litigated — and the charge of disturbing the peace later dropped — a DHHS official noted in a November email that Lopez was "cordial and respectful" throughout a phone call.
Cedars officials, meanwhile, touted Lopez's voluntary enrollment in an anger management course as they lobbied DHHS to remove the hold that had been placed on Lopez's home in November due to his criminal charges, according to a December 2020 email. The boys who were in Lopez's care weren't removed as his case was litigated, but the state paused any additional placements, the emails show.
Less than a month after Lopez paid a court-ordered $500 fine relating to the reckless driving charge, Cedars recommended that Lopez be renewed as a single-parent foster care provider, allowed to house up to four children, emails show. The recommendation came after a home study, according to an email dated Jan. 11.
"Graciano has been cooperative in completing the relicensing process," Cedars Family Resource Partner Amy Schlueter said in the email to DHHS. "He enjoys having children placed in his home and expressed his desire to continue to provide foster care for children."
Graciano Lopez timeline
2016
May: Graciano Lopez completes his first recorded training session to become a single-parent foster care provider.
2020
October: Lopez is charged with reckless driving and disturbing the peace.
November: State places a hold on Lopez’s foster care license, which bars additional placements.
December: Cedars urges HHS to remove hold on Lopez’s license.
2021
January: After a home study, Cedars recommends renewing Lopez’s license.
March 19: One of Lopez’s foster children reports abuse to the state’s hotline.
April 13: Lincoln Police Department interviews and arrests Lopez.
April 14: Cedars officially withdraws support from Lopez.
July: After further investigation, Lopez is charged with sexually assaulting as many as six teenage boys, including his foster son.
DHHS withheld findings from the January home study — along with 19 other documents relating to Lopez's foster care licensing from 2017 to March 2021 — citing various state statutes and HIPPA. Among the documents not provided to the Journal Star were compliance checklists from June 2020 and January 2021.
The findings and notes from Lopez's home study were also withheld from the records request, with DHHS citing state privacy statutes. Lopez was previously ordered to pay a $150 fine for disturbing the peace in 2010 and was charged in 1996 with felony burglary, though that charge was dismissed nine days after it was brought against the then-18-year-old.
"My questions are: 'Was this foster parent being visited once a month — at a minimum — by a caseworker?'" asked DeGarmo, who has fostered more than 40 children himself.
Records provided by DHHS show that Lopez had completed the mandatory 12 hours of department-approved in-service training in the year leading up to his license renewal application, though he hadn't completed courses on healthy sexual boundaries since December 2017, the records show.
Training on healthy sexual boundaries is not required but is offered. Foster parents are to complete a minimum number of overall training hours each year, possibly including car seat safety, for example.
Alger Studstill, the deputy director of protection and safety for the state's Division of Children and Family Services, declined to comment specifically on Lopez, citing ongoing court proceedings.
In an emailed response to general questions about the division's child safety protocols, Studstill said each licensed foster home is "supported by either a foster care agency or DHHS and the home's foster care support worker must make at least one contact monthly."
He said during monthly contacts, protocol requires that caseworkers "assess and discuss various topics with the child privately."
Cedars spokesperson Kristin Jakub declined to provide information or comment regarding Lopez, noting in an email that the organization "has been committed to the safety and protection of all children in our care" for more than 70 years.
The initial complaint lodged against Lopez, though, was fielded via the DHHS hotline. Cedars performed an internal assessment of the "critical incident" reported March 19, according to emails, though the organization's report was not among the documents provided to the Journal Star.
On April 14, the day after LPD interviewed and arrested Lopez, Cedars officially withdrew its support from Lopez in a letter to DHHS, records show. It's unclear how many children lived with Lopez at the time of the initial report and when they were removed from his care.
Lopez has been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a protected person, seven counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child and one count of third-degree sexual assault of a child.
Lincoln police believe Lopez met some of the victims through the magic shop and a lawn care business he operated, where he employed teenage boys.
I hate the whole concept of single Foster parents.
Kan. man charged for sex crimes with runaway children
Posted Aug 28, 2021 6:00 PM
SHAWNEE COUNTY—A man accused of child sex crimes involving two runaway children has been arrested and charged in the case.
In February, Topeka Police Department opened an investigation into allegations that a suspect later identified as McColgin, had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that had been reported as a runaway, according to Kagay.
Through the investigation, Kagay said officers found that McColgin had also been involved in a sexual relationship with another runaway for nearly a year when she was 13 and 14 years old. The alleged crimes happened between June of 2020 and April of 2021 at various locations in Topeka.
McColgin is being held on a bond of $250,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 2.
Planned Sex With 15-Year-Old Jersey Shore 'Boy' Gets Admitted Predator
Three Years Behind Bars
Jerry DeMarco
08/28/2021 5:08 p.m.
A confessed predator who was busted when he showed up for what he thought would be sex with a 15-year-old boy at the Jersey Shore was sentenced to a plea-bargained three years in prison.
Robert Lisicki, 51, of Metuchen didn’t realize the person he’d been communicating with on social media was actually an undercover detective, Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Lisicki planned meeting the “boy” for sex, even discussing the things he’d planned do to, Bruck said.
Detectives who were waiting arrested Lisicki when he arrived at the planned location in Toms River, the attorney general said.
The arrest was part of a sweep dubbed “Operation Open House,” a multi-agency undercover operation that produced the arrests of 24 men who Bruck said were trolling social media seeking to lure girls and boys into sex with them.
Lisicki took a deal from prosecutors rather than risk trial, pleading guilty in July to luring.
He’ll be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will remain under lifetime parole supervision after serving his sentence, secured by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Rastelli, Bruck said.
The sentence sent a message, he said: “If you prey on children, you will go to prison.”
State Division of Criminal Justice Director Lyndsay V. Ruotolo urged parents and guardians to “remember that social media creates potential opportunities for those who prey on children.”
She urged them to “remain vigilant regarding their children’s online activities, just as law enforcement is remaining vigilant with our proactive investigations.”
In addition to investigating cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, members of the State Police and Ruotolo’s office “routinely conduct undercover chat investigations on social media platforms leading to arrests of hands-on offenders and defendants seeking to lure children,” Bruck noted.
“They also conduct proactive investigations to apprehend offenders by monitoring peer-to-peer file-sharing networks and identifying the IP addresses of individuals sharing child sexual abuse material,” the attorney general said.
He and Ruotolo urged anyone with information about online child porn trafficking or suspected improper contact by pedophiles with their children to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tipline: 888-648-6007.
DA's office seeking retrial in 2018 child sex abuse case
if they can find accused
David Wilson, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
Sat, August 28, 2021, 6:17 AM·1 min read
A man on trial for sexual abuse of a child between 2007 and 2016 failed to appear in court the morning after prosecutors presented evidence of the man's DNA found inside the crotch of the victim's clothing, according to Sutter County Assistant District Attorney Cameron King.
Antonio Velazquez, 48, was arrested on Jan. 19, 2018, after charges were filed against him in December 2017. The victim was five years old when the alleged abuse began. He posted bail in August 2018.
The trial continued without Velazquez after Sutter County Superior Court Judge Brian Aronson found that Velazquez had voluntarily failed to return to court. King said the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and Aronson declared a mistrial.
"The defendant's current whereabouts are unknown to us," King said in an email. "... We intend to retry the case as soon as the defendant can be found, and a warrant will be issued to arrest him for failing to appear at trial."
As of late Friday, Velazquez had not been located. A trial setting conference is scheduled for Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m. in Sutter County Superior Court.
Man killed outside Illinois Courthouse had just left hearing
on child sex abuse, pornography charges
by: Sam Charles
Posted: Aug 27, 2021 / 01:32 PM CDT
KANKAKEE, Ill. — One of the men killed in a Thursday morning shootout outside the Kankakee County Courthouse had just left a hearing on child sex abuse and pornography charges that were brought against him earlier this year.
Kankakee County court records show that Victor Andrade, 26, was charged last April with one count of criminal sexual abuse of a child less than 5 years old, as well as three counts of possession of child pornography.
Andrade was leaving the courthouse when he was fatally shot by Antonio Hernandez, 24, who Kankakee County law enforcement officials say was from north suburban Waukegan.
Victor Andrade’s brother, 23-year-old Miguel Andrade, then fatally shot Hernandez, officials said. Kankakee County Sheriff records show that Miguel Andrade was charged Thursday with murder and possession of a stolen firearm. He has not yet made a court appearance on those charges.
Police said the shooting was driven by an internal conflict among members of the Latin Kings.
Victor Andrade’s attorney, Bart Beals, was with his client at the courthouse yesterday to attend the hearing on the sex abuse and pornography charges. He said that the conflict that lead to the shooting dates back “several months.”
Beals offered sympathy to the Andrades’ family and added that he wished the dispute could’ve been “settled another way” that shows “more respect for life.”
Your client raped a 5 y/o girl - how can you expect them to have any respect for life, or anything else?
Grand jury indicts two men in child sex abuse cases
Last updated 1:29 PM, Aug 25, 2021
A Lafayette Parish grand jury handed up two child sex abuse indictments in unrelated cases.
Gregory Sistrunk, 59, of Jeanerette, was indicted on two counts of indecent behavior with juveniles younger than 13 in connection with incidents that happened in the 1990s.
Bryan Lane, 32, of Carencro, was indicted in connection with the June molestation of a juvenile younger than 17.
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