Burke Co. officials arrest 8 for child sex-related crimes in state, national investigations [Video]

MORGANTON, N.C. (WBTV) – The Burke County Sheriff’s Office recently completed two joint investigations with a focus on potential sexual predators and repeat/recidivist sex offenders, the department said Tuesday.

Operation Heart Breaker ran from Feb. 1-27. Investigators with the sheriff’s departments, FBI and US Marshals followed up on tips from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

From there, deputies say they were able to identify people who had child sexual abuse material, multiple child victims in Burke County and surrounding states, and interrupt active child sex abuse productions within the county.

[‘Operation Winter Guardian’ leads to 16 child sex crime arrests]

Additionally, the department was part of Operation Safe Kids along with surrounding counties and state and national law enforcement.

“These types of operations could not be conducted without our partnerships and collaborations with our federal, state, and local agencies working seamlessly together for the mutual good of our communities,” representatives with Burke County …