Exclusive — James Uthmeier: 60 Florida Children Saved in ‘Largest Child Rescue Operation in U.S. History’ in Operation Dragon Eye

Sixty children were saved in the “largest child rescue operation in U.S. history” — Operation Dragon Eye — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily.

Uthmeier described Operation Dragon Eye as “one of the most incredible things I’ve ever had the opportunity to be a part of.”

“It’s why we as public officials, as law enforcement officers, it’s why we do the job. We work together, my statewide prosecution team with the U.S. Marshals based out of Tampa, and we were able to rescue in a two-week period, a two-week operation, 60 children who had been reported missing,” he said, noting that the Marshals announced this as the “largest child rescue operation in U.S. history.”

“A lot of these kids, some were runaways, some were kidnap victims. Many were victims of human trafficking. A lot of these kids have endured, you know, some of the most horrific things … have been subjected to disturbing abuse. And you know, we’re now, we’re going to provide them with victim advocate services and therapy and treatment and whatever they need to try to get them back on the road to recovery,” he said, describing it as “rewarding” to bring them home.

“We’re going to help them get recovered. And you know, thanks be to God for the law enforcement officers out there that, you know, conducted this sting, put eight guys behind bars. We continue to investigate, you know, additional leads of human trafficking that came out of this operation,” he continued.

Uthmeier explained that many of these children came from “underprivileged communities” and moved through the foster care system.

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“Some of these kidnapped situations, you know, were by family members, either, you know, a boyfriend or an ex or someone that’s come in and stolen the child from the mother,” he said. “The 60 were spread around the central Florida area.”

“They were not all connected, but some of the leads did reveal human trafficking and a network there that ultimately led investigators to find additional victims and criminals, so different walks of life, again, some runaways, some kidnapped by family members,” he explained, noting that some were through the foster care system, which “presents a longer term policy challenge.”

“How can we improve that system to help our most vulnerable? But it really is disturbing some of what we’ve seen,” he said, noting that some of the young girls were pregnant from their assailants.

“But one of the young women said that, you know, she was excited to hear the ultrasound the first time upon being rescued, and that the baby gave her something to live for, which was, you know, just a powerful, powerful message,” he added.

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