Tag Archives: Missing

Child Abuse, COVID-19, Good Parenting, Illicit Drugs, Law Enforcement, Missing

Op Triple Beam Nets CA Murder Suspect, Costs Life To Covid After Detective Returned Home

.jpg photo of public announcement of OK roundup of gangs, violent offenders, and drug activity
“Operation Triple Beam” led by U.S. Marshalls with OK Law Enforcement resulted in 262 arrests, the discovery of five missing and endangered children, among other things, and also lost one CA Detective to COVID-19.

Hundreds arrested, 5 missing children found
during U.S. Marshals’ operation targeting
metro gang activities

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK  –  An operation led by the U.S. Marshals Service targeting gang activities in the Oklahoma City metro resulted in 262 arrests, the discovery of five missing and endangered children and the seizure of firearms and narcotics.

According to the U.S. Marshals, the 60-day “Operation Triple Beam,” which concluded on Sept. 6, targeted violent fugitives and criminal offenders who committed high-profile crimes, such as homicide, felony assault and sexual assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, robbery and arson.

Officials said among the people arrested, 141 were confirmed gang members.

The U.S. Marshals Service Metro Fugitive Task Force also safely located a total of five missing children during the operation, officials said.

Law enforcement officers seized 72 firearms, more than nine kilograms of narcotics and nearly $17,000 in currency, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The operation was conducted in partnership with multiple local law enforcement agencies, including Oklahoma City police, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, Shawnee and Yukon police, Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, Oklahoma Department of Corrections and more.

According to authorities, a suspect in a homicide that occurred in California was taken into custody in the Oklahoma City area.  Four detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Oklahoma City to continue their homicide investigation.  They interviewed the suspect and witnesses, and served search warrants in Oklahoma City.

One of the detectives became ill shortly after he returned home.  He had contracted COVID-19 and died after spending a few weeks in the hospital, Johnny L. Kuhlman, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma, said during the news conference.  The detective was laid to rest Wednesday. 

Better Laws, Child Predator, Good Parenting, Missing, Sexual Predator, StopChildAbuse

It’s Not Just Fb Or Google

.jpg photo of child abuse silhouette graphic
Is your family really safe? Do you really know who has your family’s information and is watching them?

The antivirus product of the year is really
a surveillance tool…

All I can say is… wouldn’t you know it.

Avast was named AV-Comparatives’ 2018 Product of the Year.  It offers premium security for mobile devices, laptops, and home computers.  And it can be downloaded for free.  What’s not to like?

Consumers certainly love the idea of free antivirus protection.  Avast now has more than 435 million active users a month.  That’s a huge customer base.

But it turns out there is a catch…

Avast has a subsidiary called Jumpshot.  And Jumpshot has been harvesting the data of every Avast user from the moment they installed the software.

Every search.  Every click.  Every buy.  On every site.  Jumpshot recorded it all, packaged it up, and sold it.

And guess who the buyers have been?  Google, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Home Depot, and others.

These are large, blue-chip companies.  And reportedly some of them have been paying millions of dollars to get their hands on the data Jumpshot has taken.  Some of this data is very sensitive and personal.

This is perhaps even more invasive than what Google and Facebook are doing.  It’s scary.

And we were never supposed to know about it.  Jumpshot required its customers to sign very strict confidentiality agreements.  Thankfully, Motherboard and PC Magazine launched a joint investigation and discovered what was really going on.

So the big takeaway here is simple.  Nothing is ever free.  If a product or service is marketed as free, that means we are the product.

Somewhere, buried within an agreement, consumers unwittingly “consent” to allow these free products and services to spy on them and do whatever they want with the information obtained.

While some companies may call that consent, I call it deception and a violation of our privacy.  And I highly recommend readers stay away from Avast… and stay skeptical of any other product that is supposedly “free.”

Child Predator, Child Sex Slavery, Indifference, Law Enforcement, Missing, TX AG

Don’t Victimize Children In Texas

.jpg photo of child victimizing graphic
Kedrick Nelms, 28, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sex trafficking a 14-year-old girl.

AG Paxton’s Office, Travis County DA
Margaret Moore Obtain Conviction
in Child Sex Trafficking Case

AUSTIN, TX  –  Resulting from a joint effort by his office, the Travis County District Attorney’s office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety, Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that a Travis County District Court sentenced Kedrick Nelms, 28, to 40 years in prison for sex trafficking a 14-year-old girl.

On June 20, a Travis County jury found Nelms guilty of trafficking of persons and of compelling prostitution of a minor, both first-degree felonies.  Nelms opted to have the judge determine his punishment.

The attorney general’s Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime section, led by Deputy Criminal Chief Kirsta Melton and Assistant Attorney General Melissa Holman, assisted the prosecution of the case at the invitation of Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore.  They were joined at the trial by Travis County Assistant District Attorney Josh Reno.

The Texas Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Nelms.

“As a result of this successful, first-of-its-kind partnership between my office, the Travis County District Attorney’s office and the Texas Department of Public Safety, a dangerous and despicable human trafficker has been brought to justice,” Attorney General Paxton said.  “I’m grateful to the prosecutors and our law enforcement partners for their tireless work on this collaborative effort.  My office will continue to work to protect victims from sex trafficking and prosecute those who profit from the exploitation of human beings.”

Travis County District Attorney Moore said: “I commend the attorney general and his assistants for this outstanding prosecution.  I am proud to have partnered in this exemplary collaboration.”

Nelms used a social media app called Tagged to lure his underage victim into a relationship, then introduced her to his girlfriend, Kirsten Violette, who conspired with Nelms to traffick the girl for prostitution in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio in June 2016.

It took a jury one hour to return guilty verdicts on both charges against Nelms.

Separately, Violette pleaded guilty this week to trafficking of persons and faces a punishment hearing in August.

Attorney General Paxton has made combating human trafficking a top priority.  Two years ago, he launched his office’s Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime section, which prosecutes human traffickers across the state.

In April, the section’s prosecution of Backpage.com resulted in the company pleading guilty to human trafficking in Texas and its CEO, Carl Ferrer, pleading guilty to money laundering.

The attorney general’s office also assisted the U.S. Department of Justice with permanently shutting down the website, which was considered the largest online sex trafficking marketplace in the world.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Paxton unveiled a powerful training video to teach Texans how to spot and report suspected human trafficking activity.

“Be the One in the Fight Against Human Trafficking” is available for viewing online at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/human-trafficking