GUADALUPE COUNTY, Texas – Sheriff Joshua Ray and his office are fighting to tackle child sex exploitation and human trafficking.
“It’s a problem that lurks in the shadows, that some people don’t talk about, they don’t acknowledge,” Ray said. “Some don’t even know it’s there, but it’s there.”
In an effort to crack down on these crimes and bring awareness to the issue, the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office launched Operation Rolling Thunder.
“We’ve had two now in the Schertz area, one in the Seguin area,” Ray said. “We made nine arrests in all, but we rescued 12 victims this time, which was by far the most victims that we’ve rescued in any of the operations.”
Videos posted by the sheriff’s office show suspects arriving to meet what they thought were underage victims, but instead were met by a group of law enforcement officers who tackled and handcuffed them.
While the operation originally targeted those sexually abusing minors, Ray said predators of all kinds are being targeted in an effort to rescue victims.
“To the casual observer, it looks like prostitution,” Ray said, “but there’s human trafficking."
In the latest operation conducted in early May, Ray said law enforcement rescued a victim from Venezuela, other states and from the San Antonio metropolitan area.
“It’s a multi-agency event,” Ray said. “The Texas Department of Public Safety plays a very large role in helping us coordinate it and put it all together.”
Ray said his office also collaborates with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and other local and county law enforcement agencies.
GCSO has a unit specifically dedicated to internet crimes against children, which pursues suspects downloading child sexual abuse material online.
“It’s proven statistically that’s where it starts,” Ray said, “but eventually it turns into physical contact.”
The sheriff’s office is also ensuring compliance with sex offender registry requirements.
“We conduct compliance checks regularly. We ensure that they’re reporting the accurate information that they are required to report,” Ray said, “and if they’re not, it’s a criminal offense, and we file those charges quickly.”
Ray said his office is posting the videos of the arrests to social media to deter would-be predators from committing offenses.
“We’re trying to create an atmosphere where they don’t want to come here to prey on our children or to traffic victims,” Ray said.
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