4 Maui men arrested for using internet to commit sex crimes against children

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Operation Keiki Shield 22 arrested four Maui men for using the internet to commit sex crimes against children.

Operation Keiki Shield is an ongoing operation aimed at identifying, locating and arresting offenders who commit sex crimes against children via the Internet, and identifying and rescuing child victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Maui County – Operation Keiki Shield

Those arrested during Operation Keiki Shield 22 were a 30-year-old Kihei man, a 21-year-old Kihei man, a 44-year-old Hana man and an 18-year-old Kahului man .

According to Maui officials, all four perpetrators were arrested and charged after soliciting sex acts from what the perpetrators believed were “children.”

The offender also took substantial steps to meet the aforementioned “children” and engage in criminal sexual conduct with them.

However, each offender was speaking to a law enforcement officer who portrayed the child, and when the offender went to meet the victim, they were actually handcuffed.

The offender is accused of:

30 years old from Kihei, HI.

· Electronic Seduction of a Child in the First Degree – HRS § 707-756

· Bail: $100,000

21 years old from Kihei, HI.

· Electronic Seduction of a Child in the First Degree – HRS § 707-756

· Bail: $100,000

Age 44, Hana, Hawaii

· Electronic Seduction of a Child in the First Degree – HRS § 707-756

· Promotion of pornographic material to minors – HRS § 712-1215

· Bail: $100,000

18 years old from Kahului, HI

· Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors – HRS § 712-1209.1

· Bail: $100,000

Since its inception, Operation Keiki Shield has arrested 39 suspects as part of ongoing investigations in Maui and more than 100 suspects across the state of Hawaii.

All cases will be turned over to the Maui Prosecutor’s Department for review, and some cases will be turned over to federal law enforcement agencies for review for violations of federal law.