An international investigation that reached a Minnesota fishing resort has rescued more than 100 children from sexual exploitation, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday.
Some 245 people were arrested in the recent multi-nation sting called "Operation Sunflower," named after the Kansas highway signs that led agents to one of the first victims.
The operation wrapped up in December and targeted people who owned, traded and produced images of child pornography -- often over the Internet.
A photo in a computer folder labeled "Minnesota Trip" led a local ICE agent to a fishing resort near Richville, then, in turn, to the arrest and conviction last month of an Illinois woman on child pornography charges.
During Thursday's news conference in Washington, D.C., ICE director John Morton described the results of Operation Sunflower as "significant, but grim" and "a sad reminder to us all that online child exploitation is a very real part of our lives and absolutely demands our full attention as a nation."
Federal agents found 110 victims in 19 states and the remaining 13 in six other countries. Morton declined to provide details about the other countries, other than to say that some were in Mexico.
Morton also announced warrants for two unidentified adults charged in Los Angeles with molesting a girl who appeared in online photos to be about 13 when she was abused. The man and woman, identified as "John Doe" and "Jane Doe," may have been in the San Fernando Valley area, north of Los Angeles, when they abused the girl. Online photos of the abuse are believed to be about 11 years old, Morton said.
The victims ranged in age from younger than 1 to 17 years old. Morton said 44 of the victims lived with their accused abusers.
