Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes and Organized Crime and Intelligence bureaus arrested 10 men during the two weeks prior to Dec. 23, using sting operations that sought to identify and apprehend predators who use the Internet to exploit children, county police said.
In each case, offenders were using online platforms to initiate explicit conversations and solicit sexual activity from what they thought were minors but in fact were police officers, police said.
When each of the suspects arrived at the arranged locations to meet the “youth,” detectives took them into custody.
The men, who ranged in age from 18 to 51, were charged with a combined 19 felonies, police said.