Operation Clean Sweep III Indicts More than 38 Child Predators and Checked 887 Registered Sex Offenders for Compliance

TULSA, Okla. - Today, U.S. Attorney Chris Nassar announced that law enforcement has indicted 38 defendants, and several others have been identified and remain under investigation after the launch of Operation Clean Sweep III in March.

Operation Clean Sweep III (operation) aims to hold child predators accountable throughout the Northern District of Oklahoma. This operation is partnered with the Tornado Alley Child Exploitation and Trafficking Task Force (TACETT), created by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). More than 25 federal, state, and tribal law enforcement partners helped prevent, identify, investigate, and ultimately prosecute child exploitation.

From March 2026 through August 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office received referrals from eight of the 11 counties within the Northern District of Oklahoma. Sixty-six cases were opened for investigation. To date, 38 defendants have either been charged by Complaint or Indicted, with the remaining still under investigation. Of the 38 defendants charged, 26 were charged with possessing child sexual abuse material, eight were charged with producing child sexual abuse material, and nine were charged with coercion and enticement for using phones and applications to target minor children. Most importantly, 21 minor children have been identified and separated from the defendants. This number does not represent the children in the child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement agencies will partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to identify those children.

From January 2026 through August 2026, NCMEC sent 8,621 CyberTips to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations - Internet Crimes Against Children (OSBI-ICAC) unit. Of those CyberTips, 2,086 cases were opened for investigation. Law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Oklahoma received 586 cases for further investigation.

During this operation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Muscogee Creek Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office, and the Quapaw Nation Marshal Service conducted compliance checks on those required to register as sex offenders in the Northern District of Oklahoma. The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) provides a comprehensive set of standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. In total, law enforcement checked 887 individuals in 10 of the 11 counties within the Northern District of Oklahoma. Investigators found that 34 individuals were not compliant with SORNA standards.

"Clean Sweep III is ending as an operation; however, the cases are not," said U.S. Attorney Chris Nassar. "Investigations and prosecutions will continue on every open matter that has not yet been charged. The team that built this operation is not standing down. The experience, the relationships, and the enforcement effort will continue. We will keep bringing child predators to justice in the Northern District of Oklahoma."

Operation Clean Sweep III was led by U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alicia Hockenbury, George Jiang, Kate Brandon, Michele Hulgaard, Jessica Wright, Stacey Todd, Jack Osborn, Augustus Forster, Stephanie Ihler, Blithe Craves, and Chris Kelly also assisted in the operation. The law enforcement who participated in the operation are personnel from the Homeland Security Investigations - Tulsa office, the FBI, Tulsa Police Department, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, the Broken Arrow Police Department, the Bixby Police Department, the Glenpool Police Department, the Mayes County Sheriff's Office, the Rogers County Sheriff's Office, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Oologah Police Department, the Creek County Sheriff's Office, the Skiatook Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, the Bristow Police Department, the Pryor Police Department, the Owasso Police Department, the Bartlesville Police Department, the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, the Muscogee Creek Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations.

If you or someone you know is a victim of child exploitation, confidential help is available. Resources and contact information for child exploitation are available through the National Center for Missing and Exploited ChildrenLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.