On January 25th and 26th the Blount County Sheriffs Office started a new project in an effort to be proactive in the fight against child sex predators. Teaming up with Chris Hansen, from To Catch a Predator fame, and the Genesee County Michigan Sheriffs Office G.H.O.S.T team, Blount County deputies arrested three individuals who traveled to the sting house for the purpose of having a sexual encounter with what they believed was a 15 year old girl. This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a major impact on the war on sexual predators. The Blount County Sheriffs Office takes these crimes very seriously and wants people to know that this will not be tolerated here. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson has graciously offered his team and resources to train and coach our deputies on how to truly go after these criminals and how to plan, prep, conduct, and follow up on these type of investigations.

Blount County has an amazing resource, The Blount County Children's Center, that provides a great service to our most precious victims of crime. The counseling offered is second to none. They pay the salary of an investigator that his only purpose is to investigate crimes against women and children. Sadly child abuse cases in Blount county continue to be on the rise and the majority of those crimes against children are sexual in nature. We will not stand for this! We are now taking the fight to them, the predator, and will come after them with every resource and asset we have. We are tired of having to be so reactive to cases like this where we take a report from a victim then launch an investigation. If we can stop these crimes from happening to begin with hopefully we can stop a lot of the pain and trauma that so many of our children suffer from.

The Blount County sting that took place will be featured in three episodes of Takedown with Cris Hansen on https://www.watchtrublu.com/ . Again this is just the beginning. Whether we are partnered with Chris Hansen in sting for his show or on our own without all the cameras the Blount County Sheriffs Office will now be, and as long as Mark Moon is sheriff, seeking after predators who seek to harm our kids.

I know many of you feel the same way we do about criminals that hurt children. I know that many of you here in Blount County, like Sheriff Moon, believe that there is a great punishment for the evil ones that hurt our children. Matthew 18:6 says "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." God put something extra in most of us to protect children because children are special to Him.

If anyone out there has enough evil in your heart to seek after a child for a sexual encounter don't come to Blount County!