All right. First, I'd like to thank you for coming today. This is Operation Innocent Shield that we're going to talk about today. I'd like to introduce all our partners who participated in this undercover operation with us today. From Operation Light Shine is Executive Director Brian Wright. From the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is ASAIC Travis Smith. From Homeland Security Investigations Is Mike Johnson here? I forgot to check him off. Mike, come on up. I'm sorry. My My apologies. And from uh representing the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office and Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark, uh members of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office that are here is Chief Deputy Joe Brilli, Investigations Chief Augie Rodriguez, Commander Brian Finn, Cybercrimes Unit and Task Force Member and Lead Detective on this operation, uh Detective Joseph O'Barr. And from the Florida Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution is Emily Frazier. Hopefully I I got everybody. If I didn't, I apologize. Uh Operation Innocent Shield was a multi-month undercover investigation that targeted human trafficking and was designed to disrupt the online sex market activity, child exploitation, and human trafficking by focusing on demand, identifying and rescuing victims, and apprehending offenders. Uh this operation had multiple phases. The first phase was an undercover operation. Detectives responded to internet websites and platforms that advertised commercial sex services. During phase one, three adult victims of human trafficking were identified and rescued. Narcotics and drug paraphernalia along with the firearm and a car was seized. Six arrests were made for various prostitution, drug, gun, and fugitive charges. A fugitive from Seminole County was arrested on active warrants and prostitution. A Jacksonville man was arrested for possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a weapon by convicted felon, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. El [snorts] Melbourne woman was arrested for prostitution. Who also was a fugitive from Seminole County for violation of probation for possession of cocaine. Another Jacksonville man was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a motor vehicle without a license. A Jacksonville woman was arrested for prostitution, possession of fentanyl, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia. And another Jacksonville man was arrested for possession of cocaine and resisting an officer without violence. In phase two of this operation, detectives focused on individuals seeking to purchase sex services from online ads. This phase resulted in four arrests of individuals who offered to solicit prostitution. It included a Jacksonville woman was arrested for prostitution, possessing synthetic cathinones. Two Palm Coast men were arrested for solicitation of prostitution. And a Melrose, Florida woman was arrested for prostitution. The next phase, which is actually still ongoing, phase three, based on our interviews and forensic examination of digital evidence conducted by the Sheriff's Office Digital Forensics Unit, detectives have identified and are investigating three human sex traffickers. The investigation is likely in phase three to identify additional victims, lead to further seizures of narcotics and firearms and lead to additional arrests and charges. Now, hopefully you can see it, but I'd like to play a slight video of part of the operation in an undercover capacity. >> [snorts] >> I'm Joe O'Barr. I'm Detective of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office Cybercrimes and ICAC Unit. I'm also a full-time TFO with the Northeast Florida Internet Crimes Task Force. So, currently the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction and [music] partnership with the Northeast Florida Internet Crimes Task Force, its partner agencies, and Operation Lightshine is conducting a multi-day human trafficking recovery and rescue operation within Flagler County. We are actively [music] seeking out females and males who are currently being trafficked in these sex market within the surrounding counties and area in an effort to rescue them from the lifestyle that they're being forced into. This one's going to be treated a little bit differently. It's a little bit more secretive than a normal operation, but everything we are doing is being done in effort to genuinely save and help people. >> Give us your hands. Give us your >> With these more takedown-style operations, we will actively apprehend somebody and they go directly to jail. [music] However, in this operation, we have spent several months collecting a list of NGOs and other non-LE partners that can provide care and comfort [music] to these victims, be it beds, rooms, services, mental health, and they are being immediately interviewed, triaged, and then taken to wherever they can get the best care needed to help get them out of this lifestyle. I've been in law enforcement for a very long time now, and I have had a lot of different roles and jobs in this field, and this is hands-down been the most taxing and physically and mentally exhausting [music] part of my career that I have ever experienced. Every now and again, we do have that one moment [music] in an operation or in a case where you recognize why you're [music] doing what you're doing. You see the immediate reward for the effort that we're all putting into it. >> For the rescue, so great job, guys. Thank you so much. You saved somebody. Good job. >> Tonight, after many nights of long hours, we were able to save somebody. It's not something we get to say every day, and I can tell you that that is the sole reason we were here, and that reward alone was worth everything for what we did today and this week alone. To get that poor victim somewhere safe, and hopefully we can continue to get her on a path to recovery and go after that person who was victimizing her and potentially other women. It was a great win, felt great. I'm really pleased with them and the effort that they did, but unfortunately, he's still out there, still hurting more women, so I've still got a lot more work to do until today. >> So, I just want to remind everybody the totality of this undercover operation resulted in three human trafficking victims recovered and provided resources to escape their trauma. A total of 10 arrests were made. Drugs, a gun, and a car were seized, and people that had active fugitive warrants were arrested. I have a few warnings that I would like to say. Members of our community that think they can find sex or advertise sex on the internet, you might just be talking to an undercover agent. What you do that, you're really looking for is for us to arrest you, which is what we're going to do. For the victims of human trafficking, please know we want to help you escape. You or someone you know may be the victim of human trafficking. You can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or you can call the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-855-352-7233. And locally, we have the Family Life Center and I I didn't see Trish, but somebody told me she's here somewhere. So, so thank uh oh you're you're blocked. Hey, Trish. Uh you've always been a great partner whether it's domestic violence or sexual assault or or victims of human trafficking. So, thank you for that. I want to remind our community this is not a victimless crime. Victims are often drugged. They're threatened or made to perform sex acts against their will. Robberies, drugs, and guns are often involved. So, in closing before I see if any of our partners would like to make some comments, I want to thank our partners. Uh both federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, our community partners, along with the Tim Tebow Foundation, all of which support and help fund the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT, which is Interagency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force. We are serious in Northeast Florida about attacking human trafficking, rescuing victims, stopping people from preying on our kids, and arresting the offenders uh when this occurs. The cyber crimes unit in this sheriff's office is the fastest growing unit in the sheriff's office because of everything that's going on, and this is just one small piece of uh what we are seeing with the use of the internet. I want to commend uh Detective O'Barr and uh the team uh for putting this together. As you saw in that video, there was a lot of effort, a lot of work, a lot of planning that went into this operation. And I will tell you uh there are some people that are probably going to hear about this. They're probably wondering if that phone call they made or that person they were interacting with on the internet was really an undercover detective. And I will tell you that if you think you made one of those calls, it probably was. You just didn't show up because you would have joined them. And we had uh many many interactions going on, but some had been drinking and were sitting in a pool. Maybe somebody will remember that if they hear this. Um and many others couldn't find a ride or variety of reasons, but they actively engaged our undercover operations. So, I want to commend the team and our partners uh for rescuing three victims because I can tell you we see a lot of these operations. You don't always get three victims that you rescue. So, it's a great job. So, uh with that, I'll ask our prosecutor first if you would uh like to add anything. >> Mr. Sheriff, thank you. >> No. Okay. Now, you know R.J. would have been right here if he was here, right? So, um Travis, the ASAC from uh FDLE, anything you would like to add? >> Thank you. >> Okay, I guess I must have covered this really well then. Uh Homeland Security Mike Mike Johnson. >> No, sir. Thank you. >> Um Let's see, who am I missing here? Oh, the Florida Attorney General's Office Emily, anything you would like to add? >> No, sir. Thank you. >> I spoke to the Attorney General yesterday. He very much wanted to be here, but he had a prior commitment in Miami, but uh he wants me to let him know the next time we have another operation. And I want to just add that you know, most of these cases are going to be prosecuted in the 7th Circuit, but there is one if not two of the cases that the Statewide Prosecutors handling. And our federal partner with Homeland Security Investigations, I believe is taking at least one of the cases. So, you know, you might think you're only doing something on the internet and trying to have a little fun. You could end up in a federal court. You could end up in a Statewide prosecution on a bigger scheme of criminal enterprises. Or minimum local. So, anybody here would like to add anything? No. >> Sir. >> Okay, so I'll be glad to answer any questions that you may have. >> What bumps up those cases to the Attorney General's Office and to the federal prosecutor? >> Well, really depends on the facts of each individual case. So, you know, we want to go for as high as we can go, but it will depend on each case is different. So, it depends on the facts of the case, what evidence we have. A lot of that is digital evidence, and that determines it. >> So, with that, what kind of money are you seeing increase interest in Florida helping you? >> Well, I suspect in South Florida they are, and I'm suspect there is a lot of these operations going on across the country wherever sporting events occur, there's usually increased activity of human trafficking. >> Were any of these suspects linked to like larger trafficking networks at all that you're aware of? >> So, we do have continuing investigations. That's why in phase three we believe there will be additional arrests and I would I would agree with that question, right? Yeah. >> I have a follow-up question for this department. You know, the term human trafficking gets bandied about quite a bit including by this office. But we've often had felt all 100 people. Usually had these charges of human trafficking go out and charged by the deputies. When they go up to your office, I often remember a single case of human trafficking that's actually being prosecuted in the last 10 years. They're typically downgraded to, you know, illegal sex or unlawful sex. That's what we get. And and and I have to repeat that. What's the difference here? >> Well, I can't comment on ongoing investigations and obviously each case is case-specific and you have to obviously look through the statute and see whether or not the facts of an individual case match the statute. So, I can't really answer the question with regard to what we have currently. >> So, you don't know how many of your actual human trafficking cases >> I Again, I can't comment on active investigations, so at this point I can't really comment to that. >> Okay. How many actual charges are there currently as human trafficking? >> Well, we've made a total of of 10 arrests. Some people with multiple charges. Obviously, the state or the federal prosecutors will look at those decide what is [clears throat] the strongest case based on the evidence that we have when they make a filing decision. So, you know, I can tell you that we've made 10 arrests. Some of those have multiple charges. Some are being held I believe in jail under no bond. Some have bonded out. Uh so, it's a it's a variety of different uh levels of cases based on the evidence. The specific statute? >> Currently not there, but actually we >> Yeah. So, I think if you go back to what I said about um phase [snorts] three, we have ongoing investigations that we believe will result in human trafficking, but they're still active investigations. >> [snorts] >> With all the growth in Flagler County, are you seeing Sounds like are you seeing more of these type of cases that the prosecution has been taking on the people? >> Well, I guess you could say in one way I was proud of our community. We only arrested two Johns that came looking for sex. I guess that's a a good indicator is maybe not too bad. What I can tell you is in Northeast Florida, we take it serious, and there are a lot of arrests. What we're seeing in Flagler County is a lot of child sex pornography on the internet or making it, and we've made multiple arrests that that you all have pretty much regularly reported as we release it. So, uh I think we have a lot of child sex crimes in this county, and a lot of child pornography in this county, or this ism that's out there. And Detective O'Barr's in it full time, so I don't know if you'd like to add something to that. They'd probably like to hear from you. You're you're living this force, if you don't mind. >> Yes, we we do have we have a lot of increased activity online across numerous platforms where people are advertising themselves commercially, um or being advertised by other persons commercially for sex. Uh I personally have seen an increase over the last couple of years in that realm as well and the two are often times overlapping where child sexual abuse material and prostitution can be commingled and it's almost paraphylic where somebody that is interested in commercial sex is also interested in children or other deviant sexual behaviors and materials. So yeah, both are relatively linked and they're increasing. >> Why Flagler County so much? >> I don't know that it's necessarily just Flagler County. Unfortunately, I think it's it's everywhere. The difference being is is manpower staffing funding and ability to investigate our our leads a little bit more thoroughly, a little bit more aggressively. Thankfully, our sheriff has given me uh basically full clearance to go after people whenever I have them and Melissa's phenomenal. I work hand-in-hand with her all the time. So I uh send [snorts] her a lot of cases and she she does a great job. So I think that's probably why you're just seeing an uptick in cases. We have a partnership with OCS, with Intercept, Office of Statewide is great, FDLE helps us out, HSI. So at least in this area, we're pretty aggressive in going after them. Does that answer your question, sir? >> Is it odd that you said that you've said in the last three years you've seen an uptick in it? Is that scary to you or to people in the community, especially Flagler County, you know? >> Uh it's concerning. Uh I couldn't give you a reasoning behind it or a causation for it. So it is it is troubling to see, especially as technology changes and people are more interconnected day by day. It is concerning, yes. >> And in this office specifically, were there any minors at all identified at any point? >> No, thankfully not in this instance. >> And what were the ages of the victims, you said? >> The victims, they were early 30s to early 40s. >> Would you Would you categorize them as sex workers? >> I would need you to elaborate on that. What do you mean they categorized as sex workers? >> You know the difference. People who are being sex trafficked or who are being sold by somebody or forced to do it. >> No, they they were victims is what they were, Pierre. They are victims of a dirt bag that is either drugging them up or making them go sell themselves and give that individual the money just so they can live or get their next fix. They are a victim is who they are. At least the ones Now, the ones that we charged with prostitution they're not necessarily a human trafficking type victim like I just described. There's a reason that their uh the three victims uh photos are disguised and the ones that we arrested for prostitution are visible photos. There's a difference between a victim and somebody's committing a crime in the state of Florida. Good. Any other questions? All right, thank you very much for coming. Thank you all very much. We can go out the back here.