'Broken Heart' operation: Nearly 1,700 suspected child sex predators arrested

Washington: The US Justice Department said Tuesday that it has arrested nearly 1,700 alleged online child sex offenders in a two-month operation across the country.

The "Broken Heart" operation of April and May took aim at people who make and distribute child pornography, as well as those who receive and download it.

It also went after people involved in trafficking children for sex, and paedophiles who travel around the country and abroad to sexually abuse children, the Justice Department said.

The operation led to the identification of 308 child abusers and 357 children who suffered abuse in the production of pornography.

"The sexual abuse of children is repugnant, and it victimizes the most innocent and vulnerable of all," Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement.

"We must bring the full force of the law against sexual predators, and with the help of our Internet Crimes Against Children program, we will."