The Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a nationwide crackdown targeting child sex predators, resulting in the arrest of 205 offenders and the rescue of 115 children. The operation, executed over five days, involved all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said,
The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims. We will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the agency’s commitment to protecting children, stating,
Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten.
In the Northern District of New York, eight individuals were arrested, including 19-year-old Jerry N. Butler III of Walton, New York, who is accused of using a social messaging application to request sexually explicit content from a minor. 27-year-old Steven Campbell, a U.K. citizen, reportedly distributed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and attempted to arrange for a child to be brought to the U.K. for abuse.
Other arrests include 24-year-old Max Fishkind of New Paltz, New York, who enticed a Maryland child to send him self-produced CSAM, and 59-year-old Kenneth House of Pine Planes, New York, who was arrested after reportedly planning to abuse a child.
The operation also led to the arrest of 49-year-old Terry Mead Jr. of Watervliet, New York, for photographing and distributing images of a 4-year-old child, and 20-year-old Devine Ravine of Riverside, California, for persuading a minor to create CSAM.
32-year-old Bryan Silva from Schenectady, New York, was arrested after responding to an online advertisement for sex with a child, and 68-year-old Gary Yorkshire of Scotia, New York, was arrested for planning to abuse a child.
Each defendant faces significant prison time if convicted, along with supervised release, fines, and mandatory registration as a sex offender. The FBI Albany Field Office and its Child Exploitation Task Force, comprising federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, are investigating these cases.