There are few crimes so horrible as those which involve the abuse of children. Most people are hard-wired to protect kids, not to hurt them. That's why convicted child abusers are on the bottom rung of the social scale even in prisons.
Now some more child abusers may be about to find that out first-hand. In Florida, a prolonged, multi-agency effort called Operation Statewide Shield has now recovered 163 lost children from around the world, and (so far) three accused abusers are now behind bars. That's a good day's work by any measure.
A multi-agency effort in Florida has recovered 163 children — from 2 months old to 17 — across five continents during Operation Statewide Shield, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday.
Working with federal and foreign law enforcement agencies, Florida law enforcement officials spent five days in mid-August tracking and recovering the missing children.
Some of the children were runaways, Uthmeier’s office said. Some had been abandoned, neglected or abused. Some had been trafficked.
While the report doesn't mention all the logistics of what was a multi-national operation (nor should it), the list of places kids were found in is rather amazing.
Rescuers recovered the children in Florida, Alabama, California, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Tennessee. They also found children in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Spain and Taiwan, Uthmeier’s office said.
Three men have been arrested so far, a spokesman for Uthmeier told Fox News Digital.
It's unclear how the kids in places like Brazil and Ghana were located, and it's not clear when they will be returned to the United States. But a local report indicates that they will be returned, and also notes where in the United States these kids were located; the list of places goes well beyond Florida, meaning American federal agencies and the law enforcement agencies in these nations would have to have been involved.
The multi-agency task force rescued kids across six U.S. states, Puerto Rico and 12 foreign countries, including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Spain and Taiwan. Officers transported the recovered children to specialized hubs offering social services, medical care and child welfare support.
This would seem to be merely the opening round in this investigation. It's a certainty that there were more than three criminals involved in this; 163 children recovered from all over the USA and from 12 foreign countries implies that adult traffickers involved in all these cases numbered in, at the very least, double digits.
The three goblins already in custody are:
- Michael Prescott, who faces three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, one count of felony battery, and one count of aggravated assault.
- Rebert Ferral Allisaon, who is being charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a victim 12 to 16 years old.
- Jayden Allen Harwood, who faces charges of interference in a child custody case and resisting officers without violence.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has indicated that the state will be seeking maximum penalties for all three upon conviction, including the death penalty where applicable. And applicable it may well be; in Florida, since 2023, persons convicted of certain sex crimes against children can face the death penalty.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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