Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
DETROIT – Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country.
“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”
“Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”
“We are called to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, our children,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. “Our office will bring the full force of the law against those who exploit innocent children. We are firmly committed to working alongside our federal, state, and local partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute anyone who seeks to hurt our children.”
“Operation Restore Justice demonstrates the strength of our law enforcement partnerships,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “Members of the FBI Detroit Field Office’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force, along with the Macomb County FBI Gang and Violent Crime Task Force, greatly appreciate the coordinated efforts and support from our law enforcement partners, including ICE HSI, U.S. Border Patrol, CBP Air and Marine Operations, Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby Township Police Department, Royal Oak Police Department, Belleville Police Department, Westland Police Department, and Centerline Police Department. This operation led to multiple arrests across eastern Michigan, underscoring our commitment to protecting and strengthening community safety.”
Those charged in the Eastern District of Michigan were:
Adarius Carr, 36, of Belleville. Carr is charged in a criminal complaint with distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The complaint alleges that Carr communicated with a convicted sex offender over an Internet-messaging service. The two discussed their sexual interest in children and exchanged images and videos of child pornography.
Aroul Kaliamurthy, 53, of Westland, Michigan. Kaliamurthy was charged in a criminal complaint with transportation, possession, and access with intent to view child pornography. It is alleged that Kaliamurthy traveled to North Carolina where he took hidden camera videos of a naked prepubescent child. Kaliamurthy is alleged to have possessed these electronic devices as well as images of child pornography on his cell phone and personal computers and brought them back to the Eastern District of Michigan.
Scott Rocky, 57, of Centerline. Rocky was charged in a criminal complaint with receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. The complaint alleges that Rocky shared approximately 4141 files believed to be child pornography with other internet users over peer-to-peer software.
Amor Pedro Martinez, 26, of Ecorse. Martinez was charged in a criminal complaint with receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. According to the criminal complaint, Martinez is alleged to have engaged in sexually explicit conversations on a messaging application with other individuals and received child pornography on this application from another user.
Whitney Williams, 38. Williams was charged in a criminal complaint with sex trafficking of a minor. According to the criminal complaint, Williams is alleged to have advertised, rented hotel rooms and transported a minor victim to engage in commercial sex acts.
Others arrested around the country are alleged to have committed various crimes including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, online enticement and transportation of minors, and child sex trafficking. In Minneapolis, for example, a state trooper and Army Reservist was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while wearing his uniforms. In Norfolk, VA, an illegal alien from Mexico is accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex. In Washington, D.C., a former Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer was arrested for allegedly trafficking minor victims.
In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice. For example, a California man was arrested about eight hours after a young victim bravely came forward and disclosed their abuse to FBI agents after an online safety presentation at a school near Albany, N.Y.
This effort follows the Department’s observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April and underscores the Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and raising awareness about the dangers they face. While the Department, including the FBI, investigates and prosecutes these crimes every day, April serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preventing these crimes, seeking justice for victims, and raising awareness through community education.
The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.
The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.
Other online resources:
Violent Crimes Against Children
How we can help you: Parents and caregivers protecting your kids
An indictment/complaint is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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