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ABIGAIL: SEX CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN IN OUR STATE. TONIGHT 19 PEOPLE ARE IN JAIL. IT’S THE RESULT OF AN FBI INVESTIGATION IN NORTHERN OKLAHOMA CALLED OPERATION INDEPENDENCE DAY. INDICTMENTS ON 19 PEOPLE. NINE CHARGED IN U.S. DISTRIC COURT. AND TEN OTHERS ARE BEING D.A. OPERATION INDEPENDENCE DAY TARGETS CHILD PREDATORS. >> WE WORKED ONLINE. WE WORKED IN UNDERCOVER CAPACITIES. WE WORKED THROUGH RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE ON THE GROUND HERE IN NORTHERN OKLAHOMA TO IDENTIFY THOSE WHO PRESENT A DIRECT THREAT TO CHILDREN IN OUR COMMUNITY. ABIGAIL THE INVESTIGATION : INCLUDED CITY, STATE, AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. CHARGES RANGE FROM CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, SEXUAL EXPLOITATION COERCION AND ENTICEMENT OF A CHILD. >> WHAT WE SEE IS THAT THESE PREDATORS TIME AND TIME AGAIN EXPLOIT CHILDREN WHO ARE ON THE INTERNET. THEY ENTICE THEM, THEY BEFRIEND THEM THEN THEY VICTIMIZE THEM. ABIGAIL PROSECUTORS SAY THE : PEOPLE INDICTED USED SOCIAL MEDIA THE INTERNET AND OTHER MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION TO ENGAGE WITH VICTIMS. U.S. ATTORNEY TRENT SHORES ADVISES PARENTS AND LOVED ONES WATCH YOUR KIDS CLOSELY. >> I ENCOURAGE PARENTS TO KNOW WHAT APPS YOUR CHILD IS USING AND KNOW WHO IT IS THAT THEY ARE COMMUNICATING WITH. KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING WHEN THEY ARE ON THE INTERNET. ABIGAIL: THE 9 FEDERAL CHARGES IN OKLAHOMA ARE PART OF 67 ARRESTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. OPERATION INDEPENDENCE DAY HAS RECOVERED OR IDENTIFIED 103 CHILD VICTIM INCLUDING FOUR IN OKLAHO

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Federal and local prosecutors have indicted almost 20 people in northern Oklahoma stemming from an FBI-led operation, called "Operation Independence Day," that targeted child sex predators.Nine people have been charged in the U.S. District Court in northern Oklahoma, and the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting 10 others, U.S. Attorney Trent Shores announced during a news conference Wednesday in Tulsa. The operation's goal was to hold accountable people who sexually exploit children and to identify and recover child victims."We worked online. We worked in undercover capacities. We worked through resources that we have on the ground here in northern Oklahoma to identify those who present a direct threat to children in our community," Shores said. The people who have been indicted used social media, the internet and other means of electronic communication to "reach out and engage with victims," according to Shores."These are victims that they found through social media outlets," Shores said. "It’s also victims that they had met in person and began the grooming process so that these defendants could exploit them."The nine indictments in Oklahoma are part of 67 arrests of accused sex traffickers and child exploiters throughout the U.S., according to Shores. "Operation Independence Day" recovered or identified 103 child victims, including four in northern Oklahoma.Several local law enforcement agencies -- including the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Tulsa Police Department and the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office -- worked with federal agencies in "Operation Independence Day."Below is a list of the nine people who have been federally charged. Authorities have not released the names of the 10 people who are being prosecuted in Tulsa County.Christopher Cervantes, 48, of Skiatook: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorThomas Dustin Daughtry, 42, of Sperry: sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography and coercion and enticement.Carnell Lovette Matthews, 43, of Tulsa: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorCasey Adam Parker, 39, of Afton: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorJason Ray Smith, 40, of Sapulpa: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorCarl Thomas Spaeth, 35, of Broken Arrow: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorLucas Shane Vann, 18, of Salina: sexual exploitation of a childCorey Daniel Vessar, 30, of Skiatook: attempted coercion and enticement of a minorThomas Kyle Williams, 40, of Sand Springs: attempted coercion and enticement of a minor; receipt of child pornography; possession of child pornography