341 Arrested, 40 Children Rescued in California’s Largest-Ever Child Exploitation Crackdown

California law enforcement completed the state’s largest ever child exploitation operation between April 19 and May 3, 2026 — arresting 341 individuals and rescuing 40 childrenfrom active exploitation across five Southern California counties, using 112 cooperating agencies in an operation LAPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force called Operation Firewall.

The scale represents a 145% increaseover the prior year’s comparable ICAC operation, which had yielded 139 arrests. Arrests came across all five SoCal counties — Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego — and included federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies operating under unified ICAC command. The youngest rescued child was three years old.

At the announcement press conference, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli— a Trump appointee leading the federal prosecution effort — issued a warning that went beyond the operation itself: “Get your kids off the internet. Nothing good comes from it.” The line was amplified nationwide. Daniel Navarro, 42, one of the highest-profile defendants, was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison.

• 341individuals arrested across 5 Southern California counties, April 19–May 3, 2026— LAPD / DOJ
• 40children rescued from active exploitation situations— LAPD ICAC
• 112cooperating law enforcement agencies across federal, state, and local levels— LAPD press release
• +145%increase over the prior year's comparable ICAC operation (139 arrests → 341)— LAPD
• 45 yrsfederal sentence for Daniel Navarro, 42 — highest-profile case in the operation— DOJ/USAO-CDCA

The LAPD’s ICAC Task Force coordinated the two-week operation using undercover digital investigations, tip-line analysis, national NCMEC referrals, and proactive online decoy operations. Cases were developed across the full spectrum of online child exploitation: possession and distribution of CSAM, online enticement of minors, travel with intent to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, and hands-on offenses identified through victim disclosures during rescue operations.

The 112-agency coordination reflects a structural evolution in ICAC work: cases increasingly involve online platforms with servers in multiple jurisdictions, and a single predator may be operating across county and state lines simultaneously. LAPD ICAC coordinates statewide under the California ICAC Steering Committee, which feeds into the federally-funded National ICAC Task Force Program administered through DOJ.

Daniel Navarro, 42, was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison — the longest sentence in the Operation Firewall cases announced to date. The DOJ Central District of California press release described Navarro’s offenses as involving hands-on sexual abuse of multiple identified minors, production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, and online enticement of additional victims. His case was among the first Operation Firewall prosecutions concluded at sentencing.

The remaining 340 defendants are at various stages of prosecution. Federal cases are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under First AUSA Essayli; state cases are being prosecuted by the LA County DA’s Office and the district attorneys of the four other counties. All defendants are presumed innocent pending conviction.

“Get your kids off the internet. Nothing good comes from it. These predators are everywhere — and they’re coming for your children.”

First AUSA Bill Essayli · Operation Firewall press conference, May 22, 2026

Operation Firewall’s 145% year-over-year arrest increase reflects both improved investigative capacity and a genuinely growing threat. NCMEC received 36.2 million CyberTipline reports in 2023 — the most recent full-year figure — up from 29.3 million in 2022. The vast majority involve CSAM distribution across social media platforms, gaming platforms, and encrypted messaging apps.

The Trump DOJ has made child exploitation prosecution a stated priority. First AUSA Essayli cited Operation Firewall as a model for how federal-state-local coordination can produce results at a scale that no single jurisdiction can achieve alone. DOJ has indicated that similar multi-agency ICAC sweeps are planned in other major metro areas in the second half of 2026.