California officials have announced that a large-scale law enforcement operation targeting child pornography online has identified 500 suspected offenders, leading to the arrest of dozens in Riverside County.
According to a press release from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office on Monday, the investigation, codenamed “Operation Volcano,” ran from March of last year to March of this year, focusing on distributors of child pornography and resulting in the arrest of 42 individuals.
Law enforcement officers targeted high-risk suspects and internet organizations disseminating related content locally. The age range of those arrested was between 21 and 81 years old.
Authorities stated that through collaborative efforts, law enforcement pinpointed over 500 IP addresses suspected of distributing child sexual abuse images and carried out 46 residential searches county-wide.
The prosecutors highlighted that among the arrestees, 14 were classified as high-risk individuals. One suspect had a warrant issued with a bail set at $2 million, charged with child sexual assault.
Those arrested included a child psychologist, a retired law enforcement officer, a naturopathic physician, a California prison staff member, a local government planning official, a hospital chief technology officer, a US Postal Service employee, a notary public, and two vice presidents of companies, among others. The prosecutors mentioned that three registered sex offenders were also detained.
The District Attorney’s Office website has released the list of detainees from this year-long operation. It is currently unclear whether any victims have been identified or provided with assistance.
Supervising investigator Liam Doyle of the District Attorney’s Office told local media that “arresting is actually the easy part” and emphasized that “digital forensic examinations are both time-consuming and costly, and without evidence, we cannot build a case.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently reported that in 2025, over 6,200 missing children in the US were found, with approximately 2,700 confirmed as victims of child sexual exploitation. The FBI also noted that during the same period, 1,700 child sex offenders and 300 human traffickers were arrested.
As of the time of publication, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office had not responded to requests for comments from the Epoch Times. ◇