INDIANA – The Indiana State Police, which oversees the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, once again organized and led Operation Guardian Angel, which ran from August 1-31, 2026.
The primary goal of Operation Guardian Angel was to intensify efforts in areas of proactive investigations, such as peer-to-peer file sharing and undercover chat investigations. Through these efforts, the Indiana ICAC aimed to identify and locate children who were victims of hands-on sexual abuse, sextortion, and child exploitation, bringing them to safety and holding their abusers accountable.
In addition to these crucial investigative efforts, the Indiana ICAC continued its ongoing commitment to prevention and community outreach. Educating the public about internet safety remains a key component of the ICAC’s mission to protect children in Indiana.
Below are the results of the 2026 Operation Guardian Angel initiative:
Investigations
- Reactive Investigations Resulting from Citizen Complaints or CyberTips: 237
- Proactive Investigations: 30
- Number of CyberTips Received for August: 1,653
- Number of CyberTips Received between January and August 2026: 16,643
Arrests
- Total Arrests: 61
- Identified as Hands-on Offenders: 5
- Number of Arrestees who were also a Registered Sex Offender: 6
Child Victims Identified
- Children Rescued from On-going Abuse: 9
- 1Newly Identified Children with Images: 41
- 2Newly Identified Children without Images: 47
Prevention Activities
- Number of Presentations: 147
- Estimated number of attendees: 8,914
For more information about the Indiana ICAC, please visit
www.internetcrimesagainstkids.com
1A newly identified child victim is a victim whose identity was not previously known to law enforcement or NCMEC, but now is known as a result of an investigation. These children are the newly identified child victims whose abuse was used by a suspect or suspects to create child sex abuse material (CSAM).
2A newly identified child victim is a victim whose identity was not previously known to law enforcement or NCMEC, but now is known as a result of an investigation. These children are the newly identified child victims whose abuse was not captured in any known child sex abuse material (CSAM).
