Task Force Saves 5 Underage Girls, Arrests 30 Sex Offenders
U.S. Marshals task force saves 5 underage teen girls, arrests 30 sex offenders (File: KSNV)
Story at TND by ZACHARY ROGERS | The National Desk Monday, January 3rd 2022
NEW ORLEANS (TND) — A task force led by the U.S. Marshals recently conducted an operation that recovered five missing teenagers and resulted in the arrests of 30 sex offenders in the metro area of New Orleans.
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) details highlights of the operation in a news release.
Conducted between mid-October and Dec. 24, "Operation Boo Dat 2021" rescued five endangered girls between 14 and 17 years old and arrested 30, including 17 who are accused of felony sex offender registration violations and a tier 3 sex offender who allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl.
Louisiana State Police, New Orleans Police Department, USMS New Orleans Task Force, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office cooperated with U.S. Marshals in the conduction of the operation.
Two of the teens rescued were sisters recovered from a Baton Rouge apartment who, according to the news release, "may be victims of adult(s') felony criminal sexual activities."
One of the rescued, a runaway 16-year-old girl who ran from her home in New Orleans after allegedly stealing a relative's vehicle and handgun, was found living with several adults, including an adult female stripper.
The man who allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl, Lorenzo Oliver, was arrested Dec. 10. He has a previous conviction in 2015 for following a woman into a library bathroom and attempting to forcibly rape her, the news release says.
USMS details the arrests of several sex offenders who were either wanted on previous warrants, parole violations, or "Failure to Report" violations.
"During Operation Boo Dat over one hundred sex offender compliance checks were also attempted or completed in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Sex Offender compliance checks require law enforcement officers to go to the sex offender’s reported address of residence to verify that the person still lives at the provided address. Often countless hours of follow up investigative work are required during and after a compliance check," the news release says.
The USMS reports the agency assisted in arresting more than 10,500 sex offenders in 2021.