By Paige Orr, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies announced the results of Operation Clean Sweep III, a coordinated push targeting online child exploitation across northern Oklahoma.
The multi-agency crackdown ran from March through early August and involved 25 partner agencies working to track down predators using social media, messaging apps and emerging technologies.
Officials said the timing of the announcement aligns with the start of the new school year, serving as an urgent warning for parents to remain vigilant about their children’s digital activity.
“A total of 66 cases referred for federal prosecution,” shared U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar. “A total of 38 defendants have already been charged by either grand jury indictment or criminal complaint. The most important and rewarding number on this board is 21 child victims identified or rescued.”
While the five month operation yielded significant results, law enforcement leaders emphasized that the threat is far from over.
Nassar noted that while parents traditionally worry about the risks of things like motor vehicle accidents, online threats pose an even greater statistical danger.
“The statistics show that a child is far more likely to be solicited online by a child predator than they are to be in a car accident, so a similar graduated approach needs to be taken by parents on how they allow their children to use the internet.”
Prosecutors highlighted that wile traditional social platforms remain primary targets for predators, artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding the scope of online exploitation.
Law enforcement said they’re observing an exponential rise in AI-generated illicit material, including cases where non-explicit photos of real children were altered into illegal content.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert pointed to a recent federal conviction in Oklahoma involving a local defendant who used AI software to transform an innocent image of a child into abusive material.
“That comes from both a morphed image of a real, identifiable child or purely AI-generated children,” Robert said. “We do have several cases open. One of them we just prosecuted this past month, United States v. Aaron Sanders, that had an AI-generated child sexual abuse video that was generated from a non-explicit photo of an identifiable child.”
Law enforcement agencies continue to work on dozens of open investigations connected to online exploitation.
Officials strongly encourage parents to actively monitor every app, device and messaging platform accessible to their children.
