LAS VEGAS, NV—Federal, state and local law enforcement joined arms today to announce the results of a six-month arrest surge of child predators in southern Nevada, and to discuss their ongoing efforts to identify and prosecute persons who are committing sex crimes against children in Nevada, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

At a news conference in the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, U.S. Attorney Bogden was joined on stage by FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rick Brodsky, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, HSI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Harris, U.S. Marshal Christopher Hoye, and Captain Michael Johnston of the Henderson Police Department to announce arrest and prosecution results in Operation Protect the Powerless. The Operation occurred from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2014, and resulted in the prosecution and conviction of 219 persons, the execution of 100 search warrants, and the recovery of over 500,000 images and 2,700 videos of child rape and pornography. The surge also resulted in prosecutions are being handled jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Clark County District Attorney’s Office, and resulted in distinct charges in federal and state court.

Henry Genaro Macias, 33, of Las Vegas, Nev., is a defendant who was jointly prosecuted by state and federal authorities and was sentenced during Operation Protect the Powerless. Investigators determined that Macias was using the Internet to share numerous files of child pornography and at the same time was molesting minor children. Macias pleaded guilty in federal court to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced on Dec. 4, 2014, to 12 years in prison and lifetime supervised release. Macias also pleaded guilty in Clark County District Court to attempt lewdness with a child and was sentenced on July 29, 2014, to six to 15 years in prison.

Operation Protect the Powerless was organized and led by the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Task Force in southern Nevada, and targeted child traffickers, persons who were coercing and enticing minors for sex, child pornographers, child molesters and child rapists. The Task Force, comprised of federal, state and local investigators and prosecutors, was reorganized in 2013 to provide a format for weekly meetings in Las Vegas to review cases involving sex crimes against children and to determine the best venue for prosecution. Members of the Task Force have also been participating in outreach at Clark County schools in order to educate parents and children about the dangers of the Internet and unsuspecting child sex predators. The reorganization promptly resulted in the successful six-month operation.

Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals, federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”