205 arrested in FBI operation targeting child predators
Published 11:30 am Wednesday, May 21, 2025
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The fight to protect children in the digital age is multifaceted – requiring coordinated action on multiple fronts. Two such efforts recently played out involving law enforcement’s crackdown on online predators. A separate investigative report into an accident in an Alabama court revealed that a major pornography distributor may have allowed child exploitation on its site for years without repercussions.
115 children rescued
The advocacy group Enough is Enough (EIE) released the following statement regarding the recent bust of a large child predator ring:
“The recent announcement of the arrest of 205 child sex predators and the rescue of 115 children is a major victory in the fight to protect the most vulnerable! This sends a clear message that those who exploit children will be hunted down and brought to justice. A huge thanks to law enforcement teams involved for their diligence and commitment to public safety, the FBI and Attorney General Pam Bondi!”
Also announced last week, two alleged leaders of the notorious online group “764” were arrested for orchestrating a vast child exploitation ring. Operating through platforms like Discord and Telegram, they allegedly coerced minors into producing explicit content and self-harm, using threats and psychological manipulation. Authorities describe this as one of the most disturbing cases of online child abuse ever encountered.
Pornhub’s Alabama court leak
Nicholas Kristof’s latest column in The New York Times (“These Internal Documents Show Why We Shouldn’t Trust Porn Companies”) reveals how Pornhub profited from hosting videos featuring child sexual abuse and nonconsensual content, causing lasting trauma for victims.
Kristof reported how accidentally unsealed documents due to a filing error in a Federal District Court in Alabama exposed Pornhub’s long-standing awareness and mishandling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platform. These documents, including emails and staff messages, highlighted there were 15,477 videos (since removed) with the keyword “12yo”; other categories that the company tracked were “11yo,” “degraded teen,” “under 10” and “extreme choking.”
One private memo acknowledged that videos with apparent child sexual abuse had been viewed 684 million times before being removed. Despite being aware of these issues, Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek (now Aylo), allegedly allowed such content to remain accessible for years.
“This is further evidence that pornography companies should never be allowed to police themselves,” an EIE representative stated, “The multi-billion dollar pornography industry must be held accountable through strict enforcement and adequate funding of existing obscenity laws (regarding hard-core pornography) and laws against child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Furthermore, EIE stands with the many states that have implemented laws requiring pornography sites to verify the age of their users before providing access. We ask our supporters to join us in prayerful expectation that the Supreme Court will uphold the Texas age verification law (Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, 23-50627). Urgent reforms must continue to hold tech platforms accountable and protect children from exploitation!”