Kings County DA: Operation Freedom led to nine arrests; office files civil Brown Act complaint against Avenel

District Attorney Sarah told the Kings County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 13 that a multi‑agency operation known as Operation Freedom in September 2025 led to the apprehension of nine suspects who were allegedly targeting children through social media platforms. Sarah said local, state and federal partners — including the sheriff's office, Hanford, Lemoore and Corcoran police departments, the major crimes task force, the FBI and the California Department of Justice — participated in the operation and were “met with tremendous success.”

She described human trafficking as “modern day slavery” that affects rural communities as well as cities, and said predators use social media to groom children. “We successfully apprehended 9 suspects,” she said, and singled out one individual described as having no identification or property whose only digital trail was a Snapchat account used to target minors. Sarah commended investigators for tracking predators both inside and outside the county who were contacting people within Kings County.

The DA asked the board to recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Month and noted there was a related resolution and an opportunity for a group photo with participating agencies.

Sarah also updated the board on a separate matter: her office filed a civil Brown Act complaint against the City of Avenel on Dec. 19. She emphasized the filing is a civil action seeking remedial changes to city procedures and is not a criminal prosecution of elected officials. She said the complaint alleges procedural violations of the Brown Act, that the county's role is to ensure compliance with the law, and that the city may respond in the civil case by filing a written answer or a demurrer. “Our responsibility is to ensure that people are following the law,” she said.

The DA asked the board to treat the two matters separately: one is criminal enforcement of trafficking laws with multi‑agency partners, the other is a civil court action addressing alleged violations of open‑meeting rules. She said the county will notify the board of developments as the court process proceeds.

The board did not take further public action on either item during the meeting. The board adjourned into closed session and said it will return for other scheduled business at 11:00 a.m.