It’s official, the Southwest Florida INTERCEPT Task Force is at work fighting human trafficking and the sexploitation of children.
The task force held a news conference Thursday afternoon in Naples to announce the formation. The task force was created earlier this year.
The task force already has arrested 25 people in Collier County on soliciting prostitution and child exploitation charges. The task force found 37 victims, including a 2-year-old.
“This was just the very beginning and just a starter operation,” said State Attorney Amira Fox.
John Yancey, resident agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Southwest Florida, said the task force was taken from another task force idea, NETFORCE.
Fox created NETFORCE in 2019, which built partnerships with local, state and federal agencies, to fight narcotics trade.
Earlier this year the group met to discuss how to take advantage of the partnerships, Yancey said. That’s when they decided on using it to fight sexploitation of children and sex trafficking.
“There is no greater need or purpose then to work the areas of child exploitation and sex trafficking, so we decided to build the INTERCEPT Task Force,” Yancey said. “That’s one of the biggest challenges law enforcement faces now.”
Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said on average there are 13 victims for each predator.
Child sexploitation crimes are exploding, Yancey said. The task force discovered that local law enforcement agencies were inundated with sxploitation crimes.
Yancey sought help from a friend in Nashville who told him about Operation Light Shine, a nonprofit group fighting human trafficking and sexploitation.
The Southwest Florida INTERCEPT is the second in Florida sponsored by Operation Light Shine. The Northeast INTERCEPT Task Force was formed earlier this year.
Operation Light Shine also helps INTERCEPT Task Forces in Tennessee, Maryland and Virginia.
Operation Light Shine helps in many ways. It offers salary replacements to departments who lend an officer to the task force. It’s paying for five in Southwest Florida, said Katie Yaryan, director of Florida operations.
It also helps with one vehicle a year and obtaining expensive technology needed to help in the fight.
The nonprofit recently used a $1.5 million state grant for the Northeastern Florida task force. All of it will go toward technology, including a mobile forensic lab, she said.
“In the future those will be things we will be fundraising for this area as well,” Yaryan said.
Who is part of the task force
Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, State Attorney’s Office - 20th Judicial Circuit, Naples Police Department, Marco Island Police Department, Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Port Authority Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Department of Justice South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children.
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