Internet crimes against children have tripled in recent years, according to detectives with the Miami Police Department’s task force.
Officers from the unit spoke exclusively with NBC6 in January to get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how tips lead to arrests. And this week, NBC6 was on the scene when SWAT served a warrant on a suspect in possession of child sexual abuse material.
“Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram are all required by federal law to report suspected child sexual abuse content, which we call CSAM,” one detective told NBC6. Ta. “It goes through NCMEC, the National Missing Center [and Exploited] The kids. “
Officers working within the unit did not want their names published or their faces shown on camera because the nature of the investigations often requires them to go undercover.
Detectives said they were able to use social media platforms and information from NCMEC to narrow down suspected child sexual abuse sites to specific areas.
“Basically, we investigate from the IP address, we do reverse detection, and we basically continue the investigation from there,” one of the detectives said. “This includes some of what we’re trying to do today: surveillance.”
NBC6, along with detectives in Miami, were monitoring the apartment of a particular suspect believed to be connected to child sexual abuse material regarding the girl.
“This person, we’ve already identified who he is. So what we’re doing is, basically, after we’ve identified him as the perpetrator, we’ve previously identified him as the perpetrator. It’s the same place I left it inside,” said Sgt. “Now, all we’re doing is letting him in the house before we execute the warrant. We want to make sure he’s here.”
Authorities said they had previously monitored the home in question to see who else lived there, per investigative standards.
“NCMEC is very good at letting us know if it’s something that’s being sent to us and if a child has already been identified. NCMEC has its own people who do that,” one detective said. Ta. “When we receive cyber information where a child has not been identified, it is treated with a slightly different priority, meaning that most of the children we view are already at the time of their arrest. That means they are not missing. We know they are not actively being sexually abused.”
On Wednesday, detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division accompanied Miami Police Department, SWAT, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers to execute a warrant in a separate incident in Little Havana.
“It’s safer that way. They’re more trained. They have a whole team,” one detective told NBC6. “When executing these writs, or […] They have already decided that if the police come to their home one day, they will either fight back or try to run away. ”
Prior to executing the warrant on Wednesday, ICAC officers briefed the Miami Police Department’s SWAT team with information regarding the persons being searched, the suspect’s role, and the order of entry. This particular case involved possession of child sexual abuse material.
“On February 14, 2024, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s residence,” the arrest report states. “During the interview, the defendant was presented with an image of her CSAM that had been uploaded to her Google account. [redacted]. During the search of the residence, law enforcement seized multiple electronic devices, including the defendant’s girlfriend’s Android cell phone. ”
After SWAT secured the scene Wednesday morning, ICAC officers and forensic investigators entered the property and began documenting what was there by taking photos and video and marking finds.
Bernice Vargas Torres, 23, was taken into custody. He appeared in bail court on Thursday and is charged with multiple charges of possessing images depicting sexual acts by children.
“Preliminary forensic examination of the defendant’s cell phone revealed multiple files that meet the criteria for child sexual abuse material under Florida law,” the arrest report states.
Detectives say the children involved in the sexual abuse are believed to be as young as 4 years old and as young as 9 years old.
“Sometimes it’s tough, but when you’re going through those times, you kind of remind yourself that there’s a purpose to why you’re doing it, and it’s not for everyone. “,” one detective said. NBC6 shares how he overcame this difficult task. “Someone has to do it, because this is a much bigger problem than most people realize. It’s literally growing by the month.”
Detectives also said there is no specific demographic for the offenders in these cases.
While many of the department’s tips originate from content found on social media and other online platforms, detectives have also discovered situations in which criminals can hack into home surveillance cameras and gain access to citizens’ private lives. He also said that he has witnessed cases of internal investigations being conducted. Has taken inappropriate photos or attempted to contact children in public.
“Even the big companies are Roblox now. You think it’s just kids. There are perpetrators on gaming sites and other places trying to lure kids,” the detective said. “We understand what we call floor cases here, most of the relationships. For us, parents go through their children’s phones, tablets of all kinds, etc. to send videos. “You’ll see them doing things like sending pictures, receiving pictures, doing things they’re not supposed to do. So they come here and report it. I We’re starting to get more and more of that information.”
ICAC officials said the involvement of parents and guardians was key to uncovering this exploitation.
“It’s important that parents don’t just send their children to their room with a tablet or mobile phone and not know what they’re doing,” one of the detectives said. “Please take a good look. If you walk through and see something, come here. If you live in the city of Miami, let us know and we’ll help you.”
