Via U.S. News:
As part of its attempt to combat a growing trend of online sexual exploitation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced on Monday that 255 suspected child predators had been arrested during a nearly five-week sting operation.
Operation iGuardian, as it was called, was run as a part of the agency’s larger Operation Predator and sought to identify and arrest those who allegedly “own, trade and produce” child pornography in the United States and its territories. So far in 2013, the agency has arrested 1,674 people for this type of crime, and more than 10,000 in the last decade.
Authorities also identified and rescued 61 alleged victims in the United States, Canada, Indonesia and the Netherlands, according to a statement from ICE. The suspects, 251 of whom were men and four were women, face charges ranging from online sexual enticement of a minor to child pornography production and traveling with the intent to have sex with a minor. Some were also charged with rape and molestation and distribution of child pornography.