More than 2,300 pedophiles have been arrested after a nationwide sting which targeted sex offenders operating online.
The Department of Justice announced the arrests on Tuesday and revealed that the effort was called operation Broken Heart.
All 50 states participated in snaring the pedophiles. Their alleged crimes vary from sexually abusing children to producing and distributing child porn.
The operation began in March and lasted until May.
More than 25,000 complaints were investigated as part of it, according to the DoJ’s statement on Tuesday.
Officers also delivered presentations to children on internet safety as part of the operation.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said it was triggered by the increasing popularity of the internet which facilitates pedophiles.
‘No child should ever have to endure sexual abuse and yet, in recent years, certain forms of modern technology have facilitated the spread of child pornography and created greater incentives for its production.
We at the Department of Justice are determined to strike back against these repugnant crimes.
‘It is shocking and very sad that in this one operation, we have arrested more than 2,300 alleged child predators and investigated some 25,200 sexual abuse complaints.
‘Any would-be criminal should be warned: this Department will remain relentless in hunting down those who victimize our children,’ he said.
The names of the alleged offenders were not released.
Of the 2,300 who were arrested, 195 offenders either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse.
Police identified 383 children who suffered recent, ongoing, or historical sexual abuse or who were used in child pornography.
