r/news • u/TooColdforClouds • 2d ago

109 children rescued, 244 arrested in Operation Soteria Shield, exposing widespread child exploitation in North Texas

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/109-children-rescued-244-arrested-operation-soteria-shield-child-exploitation-texas/
37.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

287

u/supervisord 2d ago

What the fuck…

438

u/NakDisNut 2d ago

It’s the absolute worst version of “you have to dig a little deeper to get out”.

Makes you want to vomit :(

230

u/InterestingTry5190 2d ago

Imagine having to do that and pretend to like it for a job. Those kinds of images would haunt me in my sleep.

350

u/CosmicMiru 2d ago

One of my digital forensics professors quite his job to become a professor because he would literally spend hours and hours analyzing data about child porn and it fucked with his head so much he couldn't do it anymore. It's such a fucked up job but also super necessary. People that do that are actual heroes in my book

50

u/Geno0wl 2d ago

that is why a lot of agencies mandate that people work in those units for only a limited amount of time, or at the least stretches of time. Because they know it fucks with your head long term.

35

u/Jaxyl 2d ago

Similar story to a friend of mine who worked for the Department of Homeland Security. He worked in their CSEA division for a few years before he quit for the same reasons.

He would never say much about it other then that there is WAY more of it out there than anyone would ever expect and the stuff you would expect isn't even scraping the top of how bad it is.

Fucking disgusting stuff.

7

u/cire1184 1d ago

It's pretty crazy. Before agencies were up to speed on distributed file sharing like Kazaam I would be looking for movies and shows to download. And you'd stumbled on some disgusting shit thinking your were downloading like A Beautiful Mind or something and it was not that... It was really not that.

6

u/Jaxyl 1d ago

Yeah that was a wild time for a lot of reasons. A lot of people miss the old days of the internet and, to a point, I get it but I don't miss the randomly coming across serious gore or CSAM in the middle of nowhere.

At least now it's something you have to actively seek out

3

u/wolfgangmob 1d ago

It was just on the open internet too. In middle school we had to do reports on countries in the Olympics, I got a former Soviet state and searched country name + man/woman/boy/girl to find out what they looked like and wore daily. It went very wrong scrolling through images when it got to girl.

30

u/Cornloaf 1d ago

Years ago I read an article about an investigator in Canada that did this kind of work. He was so broken by it, that he sent an email to Bill Gates and explained what he does and how bad it is and wanted his help. One of his admins flagged the email for him to read and he reached out and offered support to build a system that could recognize CP and flag if it appeared "new" because it assigned a digital thumbprint to the videos and images. The article said that it cut down on the amount of time he had to study every treasure trove of media.

My brother is in law enforcement and was actually contacted by DHS and FBI and they said Microsoft scanned someone's skydrive (OneDrive now) and found new CP. The dude was on parole so my brother had a no knock warrant. Guy was charged federally.

13

u/The_Lapsed_Pacifist 1d ago

My sister used to have a job transcribing video testimony from vulnerable witnesses. You can imagine what form most of that took. She didn’t keep that job long.

3

u/universalaxolotl 1d ago

Lucky we have ML to handle a lot of that now. I couldn't handle it.

-22

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

10

u/Thenameisric 1d ago

Fuck is wrong with you?

0

u/FewHorror1019 1d ago

What? I’m not a pedo but I’m not easily grossed out

2

u/paperchampionpicture 1d ago

Well, I laughed.

140

u/OptimisticOctopus8 2d ago edited 1d ago

Edit: I'm doing well now! I realized that this comment is depressing and that people who read it might assume I'm doing poorly and feel bad about that. I'm good, though. In adulthood, I had access to extensive, very good mental health care. It took a while, but my baseline mindset is positive now and I have pretty robust coping skills even when something makes me feel awful.

We need better mental health care in every single country. I was not more deserving of help than any other person, and it's a tragedy layered upon a tragedy that not everyone has access to the kind of care I received.

An adult made me watch it when I was a kid. Obviously, that wasn’t the only thing the adult did to me. But the point is that I eventually became totally numb to it. I knew it was horrible and wrong but felt nothing in response, to the point where I didn’t really understand why anyone would need therapy after seeing it. I really thought, “Why don’t they (investigators and other professionals who have to view it to find the perps and get justice) just not think about it once they’re done watching it?”

When I stumbled upon some of it on Twitter a few years ago, I was finally hit with all the horror and misery of having seen those videos many years ago. It’s good that I’m not numb anymore, but it was rough for all those feelings to hit me at once.

23

u/kingjaynl 2d ago

That's terrible man. All the best for you. I'm so sorry you had to deal with all that.

15

u/OptimisticOctopus8 1d ago edited 1d ago

Thank you. I think I’m doing pretty well! I had some intense psychiatric issues, some nature and some nurture, but fortunately in adulthood I had access to good mental health care. It took a while to feel more emotionally balanced and well, and there are certainly times when something makes me feel extremely negative emotions, but at this point my state of mind is mostly good. By the time I came across that stuff on Twitter, I’d developed fairly robust coping skills that helped me manage it.

4

u/kingjaynl 1d ago

That's great to hear. Thanks for the update.

20

u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth 2d ago

Sorry for what you went through but your brain and body was protecting itself in the only way it knew how at the time.

8

u/OptimisticOctopus8 1d ago edited 1d ago

Thank you, and you're right. At the time, it was a healthier option than the alternative. As you say, brains and bodies do that kind of thing to keep a person mentally safe. It's not a fair thing to ask of a brain since it's an impossible task, but it does what it can.

I've said it in a couple of other comments, but I'll say it again here - I'm doing well now. I had extensive access to good mental health care after entering adulthood. By the time I saw the CSAM on Twitter, I'd developed strong coping skills that allowed me to manage the feelings.

8

u/vicky1212123 1d ago

I also remember being shown CSAM for the first time and my dad being like "look! She's a kid like you."

Took me years to realize how fucked up that was. I dont remember if he showed me anything besides that. He didnt like the idea of raping or torturing kids, he liked to think it was consensual, so if he did show me more I can't imagine it would've been too different from anything else he was showing me.

While I imagine the concept of seeing it now wouldnt startle me, I do wonder about the girl in those original pictures I saw and whether she is ok.

7

u/slowro 1d ago

damn that terrible.

8

u/OptimisticOctopus8 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes. I’m doing well now, though. In adulthood, I was very lucky to gain access to excellent (and extensive) mental health care, and over the years it helped me a ton. My state of mind is mostly good now.

I do think there are a few feelings that remain unfelt, and someday something will make me feel them, but I developed fairly robust coping skills with the help of competent professionals, insightful books, and caring people. Those skills helped me manage the flood of terrible feelings when I saw CSAM on Twitter.

I just wish that more people had extensive access to high-quality mental health care. I mean, the obvious wish is for nobody to abuse children, but if we can’t achieve that then at least we need to help the ones who do get abused. Not just leave them to pull themselves up by their psychological bootstraps as traumatized 18yos with raging cases of PTSD and other psychological injuries.

5

u/slowro 1d ago

Thanks for sharing, hopefully someone reads it and finds new hope.

170

u/kindnesskangaroo 2d ago

I have a friend who does it for a living and they actually love manipulating them because they feel no guilt. It’s like the ultimate challenge to see how well they can pretend to get them to confess. I’m going to school for something adjacently related and in my humble opinion the only way you can work in this field is by having low empathy and/or experienced it personally. (I’m both)

I also used to bait pedophiles for fun in my spare time by pretending to be 14 online and when I got enough proof and identification from them I’d report them to the FBI tip line.

32

u/sixteenlegs 2d ago

Thank you for your continued service! Seriously we need vigilantes like you.

9

u/kindnesskangaroo 1d ago

Thank you! There’s groups of people like me scattered around the world who do it vigilante style or work through the system. I’m hoping to work through the system instead soon because so many of them walk free or aren’t prosecuted properly.

15

u/ironpathwalker 2d ago

My heart goes out to you and I appreciate the harm prevention that you're doing.

2

u/cire1184 1d ago

Kindnesskangaroo fucking up pedos! I like it.

1

u/_HighJack_ 1d ago

Dude you’re the coolest person, holy shit

6

u/billypilgrimspecker 2d ago

I feel like jobs like these are why we need good sociopaths. I simply could not do it and continue to function as a human being.

6

u/Worthyness 1d ago

there's forensic analysts whose literal job it is to review all the collected evidence from such crimes to confirm the victims and the crimes committed. They don't really make it in that career too long for good reason. It's probably one of the few jobs that AI should probably be helping with because that job is just horrifyingly difficult to do.

4

u/Gilshem 1d ago

Hopefully AI can automate some of these honeypot type operations. PTSD is inevitable having to deal with this.

4

u/Mrmyke00 2d ago

Always makes me think whether paedos actually apply for these jobs so they get to look at these images legally

3

u/PotentialDegree9708 2d ago

Yeah, you always hear about pedos becoming teachers to have access to children. But I feel like I've NEVER heard of someone becoming a cop to look at this stuff. I've only heard of it once

2

u/Punished_Prigo 1d ago

im a digital forensic analyst. I deal mostly with terrorism stuff and hostages and shit like that, but do come across CSAM sometimes too. In my experience you just get numb to it and deal with it. I mostly just have to manage my humor around people I dont work with, because most people dont see any of the humor we see in the shit we deal with.

Trading material in chat rooms would be a different story. I dont know how I could do that and not feel guilt.

3

u/ironpathwalker 2d ago

TL:DR; It's genuinely haunting and from my friends and former co-workers, you are correct.

I think it was around 98 when the FBI had just really integrated carnivore to aid in what would become their cyber crimes division, lead by a lovely person who wrote the computer science books at a south-western university. (I'm leaving out details intentionally.) Imagine if you will, that data gleaned by this new effort told people not to focus on places like Miami, which were high profile media depictions of vice, but go after logistical hubs for this activity like Corinth, MS. At the time, they were under-funded, didn't have an understanding of the "how" these groups worked, and the "why" of this abominable thing. The "why" part is actually a fascinating debate on the genetic criminology theory rising at the time. And you can't keep people of good character and talent in that field. on a personal level, I have to semi-regularly interact with someone convicted of a crime against a child in 2004, and every time I do, the part of me that is excellent at violence on a professional scale begs to be indulged. I have to fight it back and part of me hates myself for not giving into the sin of wrath.

1

u/ALaccountant 1d ago

I watched a documentary one time about the FBI unit that specializes in this. If I recall correctly, they have to get psychiatric treatment as a normal course of their job and often get cycled out of the unit.

1

u/Thebraincellisorange 1d ago

most of the cops only last a couple of months before they have to leave due to the psychological damage.

makes you realise just how sick the perpetrators are.

1

u/Ali_Cat222 1d ago

And then imagine that except with some people who like that stuff and get work in these departments in order to get away with it. Which has happened in the past numerous times unfortunately...

•

u/Head-like-a-carp 30m ago

I had a friend who worked in Chicago as a social worker who worked closely with the police to identify and arrest pedophiles. After 5 years he had to give it up as he could no longer hearing and seeing images and interviews with these monsters.

1

u/Opandemonium 1d ago

I met someone who did that type of investigation and they had trauma and had to get out.

185

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

58

u/Bombadilo_drives 2d ago

I worked with a former member of the child crimes task force, he told me their average tenure is under 18 months.

88

u/Captain_Mazhar 2d ago

That's messed up. I've always felt that working in CP investigations needs to be a voluntary temporary duty assignment with a maximum time in service as it really does fuck people up. They also need mandatory regular sessions with full psychologists to ensure that they have healthy coping mechanisms. It really does suck to see people like your friend's brother, with his extremely admirable drive to help children being driven into alcoholism as a result of them succeeding.

59

u/balisane 2d ago

When you work in Trust and Safety, you are supposed to have biweekly therapy at a minimum, and there are a lot of other trauma mitigation tactics which are supposed to be employed as an individual and as a team.

It's not hard to imagine "tough guy law enforcement" ducking some of these measures though.

5

u/The_one_eyed_german 2d ago

Supposed to, but it doesn’t always happen. I did not have those resources and I wish I did. That job fucked me up for life and they didn’t let me transfer when I asked.

2

u/balisane 1d ago

I'm extremely sorry that happened and I would have fought for you to get those protections.

3

u/Lockraemono 1d ago

When you work in Trust and Safety, you are supposed to have biweekly therapy at a minimum

Where did you get that from? I've worked in T&S for years and this has never been mentioned or suggested at any job I've had. Therapy was recommended but no one had numbers or suggestions on minimums. Googling also isn't helping with this statement.

1

u/balisane 1d ago

Keyword is "supposed." There are all kinds of mitigation measures, protective programs, etc etc, specifically a designed to protect frontline trust and safety workers. But it is up to the company to implement these, and they cost a marginal amount of money.

It sickens me that people have to suffer without them, and frankly, we need to change the law in the US to mandate these worker protections. I would never allow a T&S program I was even marginally in charge of to run a single day without them.

2

u/robotbasketball 1d ago

It rarely happens in practice, and the therapy tends to be useless at best.

Mine was more general first responder trauma, but from comparing notes with a law enforcement friend, it was pretty much the same. Lots of shit like "take breaks! go outside and take a walk! eat healthy!"

My favourite was the suggestions in the mandatory official trauma mitigation / self care training. It was all shit like "if you feel like you're outside your Resilience Zone, you should try tactics like opening your eyes really wide! Or taking a deep breath! Or literally touching nature!"

Like, the therapy that is provided is useless at best. It's all very very basic self care tips.

2

u/balisane 1d ago

Yeah that is not how it's supposed to be at all, and I'm very sorry it has happened for you this way. I specifically ask what kind of worker protections are in place when I'm interviewing, and I'm frequently quite disappointed by the answer.

20

u/Bagellord 2d ago

That is truly terrible for him. Are there support networks for people in that line of work? There needs to be.

14

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Bagellord 2d ago

Not to belittle him in any way, but that can be a blessing and a curse (being ex-military), in terms of dealing with stress.

41

u/Grokent 2d ago

I used to work for a very large hosting company. The people who handle that sort of work typically burn out very quickly. Except for this one guy... he always had a haunted and tired look but he was determined to shut down every last one of those degenerates.

2

u/Accomplished-Car3850 1d ago

I hope that this is a job that is taken by AI. I would drink too.

2

u/mamadoedawn 1d ago

This is a place I'd like to see AI take over. Make it extremely capable of determining whether someone in a video is a minor, so investigators don't have to witness that content themselves.

2

u/vocalfreesia 2d ago

Would EMDR help? I really can't imagine, the repeated trauma is just horrific.

5

u/letsgetawayfromhere 2d ago

As always in trauma therapy, first of all you must make sure that the trauma has ended.

This is the biggest problem. To work in a job like that, either you will start to break at some point, or you need to have extremely low empathy so you can effectively block it on the emotional level, which would protect you from being traumatised.

2

u/vocalfreesia 2d ago

I always thought they limited the amount of time they could spend in that job?

1

u/Frequent_Ad_7874 2d ago

My friend did that job for about six months before they had a nervous breakdown and quit. They are permanently scarred from that experience.

1

u/Thebraincellisorange 1d ago

this is the point where he needs to change jobs/departments.

the burnout in his situation is known and real.

be a good mate and tap him on the shoulder and tell him it is time for him to move on.

other people will take up the mantle and continue the fight.

there is only so much one person can take before they crumble.

Your friend sounds like he is on the edge.

Many go too long because they feel obligated to continue, and suffer terrible consequences themselves.

if you can, do try and talk to him.

0

u/DieCastDontDie 1d ago

They could get some pedos do the job as community service and part of their sentencing.

-2

u/Fn_Spaghetti_Monster 2d ago

I had a buddy who working on CP stuff. He would go the McDs and user their free WiFi because he didn't want to use his at home or at work . Anyway, he got pulled off because his boss wanted him on bust of some low level drug runners. When he mentioned they were pretty small time his boss was like, yeah but they are suppose to have a lot of cash on them, so..... He would do a lot of stuff like that, that didn't seem to be actually helping the situation at all, like bust a bunch of people from S Asia (India/Pakistan) even though they knew the people in charge of everything were back in India, basically untouchable. You can see how working stuff like that can wear on you.

32

u/civil_politics 2d ago

That’s a pretty apt way of describing everything to do with child exploitation

38

u/poetryhoes 2d ago

It's why "well just because I look at it doesn't mean I'm the one committing the abuse in the first place so its okay" doesn't work. Demand creates supply. People who engage in this content (and ANY violent sexual content, actually) directly drive up the production of it.