Accused online predators caught in Operation Catfish

Attorney General Lynn Fitch Friday announced the completion of a week-long cyber crime operation in North Mississippi. 

Known as Operation Catfish, the Attorney General’s Office partnered with Starkville Police Department, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi State University Police Department, Columbus Police Department, Tupelo Police Department, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to locate individuals online attempting to lure children to meet for sex or ask them to produce child pornography.

“Predators use the anonymity of the Internet to use and abuse children,” said Fitch. “My CyberCrime Division and our law enforcement affiliates in the Mississippi Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force have the training, resources, and commitment to find them before they prey on our children. Each one of these operations helps to make the Internet a safer place for all of us.”

The joint effort has so far led to the arrest of three individuals on charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors, with investigations still ongoing that may result in additional arrests.