Eleven men face criminal charges after falling prey to agents in South Carolina who posed as girls sold for sex.
The suspects face charges ranging from attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted criminal sexual conduct, and attempted dissemination of illegal obscene material to a person under 18 years of age, among others.
The defendants would have tried to contact minors through different social networks without imagining that they were communicating with undercover agents.
The final intention was to arrange a sexual encounter with the “minor”.
The arrests were announced Monday by Jay Koon, the Lexington County Sheriff.
The intervention occurred as a result of a special operation against potential sexual predators of children.
The alleged abusers were looking for a victim through platforms such as Kik, Google V oice, Textnow, Skout, and Facebook Messenger, The State reported.
“After the suspect asked to meet with ‘the boy,’ detectives set up a supposed place to arrest each one,” he said. Koon in statements quoted by Fox News. “There is no doubt about the intentions of these suspects when the messages and images they sent are reviewed,” the spokesperson added.
“That is why it is important for parents to know who their children are communicating with. online because sexual predators are looking for opportunities to exploit them,” warned the sheriff.