26 arrested in local child predator sting operation

26 men have been arrested from the Tri-Cities, Pendleton and Yakima areas following a Internet crimes against kids sting operation.

Richland Chief Chris Skinner says over the last 5 days, undercover officers posed as boys and girls as young as 11-years-old to target these individuals who they say wanted to sexually assault children. The suspects agreed to meet what they thought was going to be a child, and wound up face to face with police officers instead.

He adds many of the suspects had criminal backgrounds and will face charges at the state level and a few could face federal charges.

Richland Police say undercover officers, with the help of the Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, used several internet sites to communicate with the suspects including Craigslist and Backpage. Officers say the disturbing thing is they posted ads as kids and as parents offering their kids services for money, because those are two real issues that the area is dealing with. They also said the ads they posted mimicked real ads out there for these sexual encounters.

Skinner says it is always important that parents trust but verify what their children are doing on the internet or on their cell phones. Both Kennewick and Richland police departments will be hosting classes for parents to keep their kids safe online and on their phones. Officers are partnering with a crimes against task force in Seattle, the class on July 19th is at WSU Tri-Cities and the second class on July 20th is at the Kennewick Police Department, both run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Police released the full list of suspects who were arrested during the sting: