21 arrested attempting to meet minor for sex in undercover sting in Fresno County
A multi-agency undercover operation dubbed Operation Naughty or Nice resulted in 21 arrests in Fresno County over the weekend on various charges related to arranging a meeting with a minor for sex.
The 21 arrests over a four-day period by the Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Sanger Police and Kerman Police were more than a similar operation in 2023, which resulted in 14 arrests over three days. There were 19 arrests over a four-day period in 2022 and 34 arrests over 14 days in 2020 in related undercover operations. Those operations were called Operation Boogeyman, Operation HOOK and Covid Chat Down, according to a statement from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
The men arrested from Dec. 18 to Dec. 21 ranged in age from 21 to 66. Some of the arrested have posted bond and been released, but at least three remain in Fresno County Jail.
In the undercover operation, detectives posed as preteen and early teenaged boys and girls online. During the investigations, the suspects used sexually-explicit language and sent graphic photos to a detective who was pretending to be a child.
All of the suspects arrested, according to FCSO, were the first to express their sexual desires and initiated a time to meet with the detectives who were posing as minors. No actual children were ever used or placed into danger during the operation.
The Central California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Madera County Sheriff’s Office, Clovis Police Department, Kingsburg Police Department, Reedley Police Department, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC, Fresno County Probation Adult Compliance Team. Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, and Merced County District Attorney’s Office also participated in the operation.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 1:35 PM.