Trussville Police arrest 6 men in child sex trafficking operation with help from Covenant Rescue Group

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A major undercover operation in Trussville has led to the arrest of six men accused of targeting children for sex, according to the Trussville Police Department.

Officers say the arrests were part of an anti-human trafficking and child sex exploitation investigation, made possible through a partnership with the Covenant Rescue Group.

The nonprofit organization trains law enforcement agencies across the country on how to identify and arrest suspects involved in child exploitation and trafficking cases.

Jared Hudson, CEO of the Covenant Rescue Group and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said the group provides a 40-hour training program followed by a live sting operation.

“That was a 40-hour sex trafficking operations program,” Hudson said. “We trained the agency, then we set up a live operation with the agency so they can see what we trained them on actually works. And that led to, I think in this case, six arrests.”

Hudson said some of the things their teams uncover during these operations are deeply disturbing.

“The youngest I’ve heard in interviews about being a victim is 6 years old,” Hudson said. “The youngest I’ve seen being exploited is a child whose father we arrested. He showed up expecting to meet a 14-year-old girl. When we took his phone, we found he had been sexually abusing his 18-month-old daughter, producing child porn and selling it.”

Hudson said departments that undergo Covenant’s training continue to see success. One agency recently reported more than 60 arrests since completing the course.

“An investigator called me on Saturday. They were just doing some routine training and ended up arresting a man from Yemen, a legal immigrant on a visa, who was trying to buy a 14-year-old girl for sex,” Hudson said.

Hudson emphasized the importance of proactively teaching law enforcement how to target human traffickers and those exploiting children.

“If we are going to proactively police anything, it should be individuals trying to buy or sell kids for sexual servitude,” he said. “That should be one of the top priorities of every law enforcement agency.”

While his focus is on training officers, Hudson also urged parents to be proactive in protecting their children by checking their phones and monitoring social media activity.

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