Officials said Operation Firewall also led to 40 children being rescued or identified across five counties.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A two-week child exploitation crackdown across Southern California led to 341 arrests and the rescue or identification of 40 children, Los Angeles police and partner agencies announced after a regional operation that ended May 3.
The operation, called Operation Firewall, was led by the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is run by the Los Angeles Police Department. Officials said the effort targeted people accused of using the internet to exploit and abuse children. The task force worked across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, drawing support from 112 law enforcement partner agencies.
Investigators carried out the operation from April 19 through May 3, then announced the results May 21 during a news conference at LAPD headquarters. Police said officers worked undercover on several social media platforms and served residential search warrants and arrest warrants across the five-county region. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said investigators were trying to find both offenders and victims. “The scale of these crimes and the exponential increases in reports of online child exploitation is appalling,” McDonnell said.
Authorities said those arrested were suspected of crimes including production, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, lewd acts with a child, contacting or trying to meet a minor for lewd purposes, human trafficking, failing to register as a convicted sex offender, and parole or probation violations by convicted sex offenders. Officials did not release a full list of defendants, ages, hometowns or case numbers for all 341 arrests. They also did not say how many cases would be filed in state court, federal court or both.
The Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is part of a national network created through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The national program includes 61 coordinated task forces and thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The Los Angeles regional task force serves five Southern California counties and is one of the largest in the country, according to police. Officials said Operation Firewall reflected both the size of the regional network and the rising number of online exploitation reports.
The announcement brought together local, county and federal officials, including McDonnell, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, Central District United States Attorney Bill Essayli and Homeland Security Investigations officials. Agencies from San Bernardino County, Orange County, Santa Barbara County and several Southern California cities also took part. Officials said San Bernardino County agencies were among the most active in the sweep. Many of the children identified during the operation were returned to families or placed with child welfare authorities, officials said.
Federal officials said some cases involved online groups that push minors to create sexual abuse material or images of self-harm. Essayli said investigators had seen a rise in what he described as nihilistic violent extremist groups that target children in online spaces. “They manipulate kids online,” Essayli said during the news conference. He said investigators were seeing offenders use chat rooms, social media and other platforms to reach minors. Officials also cited concerns about generative artificial intelligence being used in child exploitation cases, though they did not give a breakdown of how many Operation Firewall arrests involved AI-generated material.
Police said the operation has ended, but investigations linked to the arrests and rescued children remain active. Prosecutors will review evidence from search warrants, digital devices, undercover communications and witness interviews before deciding which charges to file in individual cases. Some suspects could face state charges, while others could be referred for federal prosecution depending on the evidence, location of conduct and alleged use of online platforms or interstate communications.
The news conference was held at LAPD headquarters, where officials stood beside representatives from agencies that helped carry out the warrants and arrests. McDonnell said the task force would continue to pursue online offenders after Operation Firewall. He said the work placed investigators between children and those seeking to harm them. Other officials described the cases as difficult for investigators because they often involve large amounts of digital evidence and victims who may be afraid, manipulated or unaware that images of them have been shared.
As of Sunday, May 24, authorities had announced the overall results of Operation Firewall but had not released a complete public accounting of each arrest. The next step is case-by-case review by prosecutors and continued victim identification work by the task force and partner agencies.
Author note: Last updated Sunday, May 24, 2026.