SALT LAKE CITY — A four-day undercover operation throughout Utah has led to the arrests of 15 people who allegedly used the internet to sexually exploit children, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force announced Wednesday.
Operation Hive Strike took place between April 14-17 and involved 31 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and over 80 agents.
During the operation, the Utah Attorney General's Office said agents posed as minors on social media platforms to "find individuals who sought to meet children in-person for sexual activity."
The 15 people arrested face charges that include:
- Sexual exploitation of a minor
- Dealing in harmful materials to a minor
- Enticing a minor, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor
- Aggravated sexual abuse of a child
- Sodomy on a child
During Operation Hive Strike, warrants were served at the homes of people accused of downloading, viewing and distributing child sex abuse material. The 15 arrests occurred in Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber and Summit counties.
Head of Utah charter school accused of distributing, possibly producing child pornography:
The announcement of the arrests comes one day after the director of a Layton charter school was arrested on the suspicion of sexually exploiting minors by way of distributing child pornography.
