(The Center Square) – Through a targeted effort to crack down on sexual crimes against children nationwide, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday it has arrested over 200 child sexual abuse offenders and rescued 115 children.

Fifty-five FBI field offices worked with the department’s criminal division and United States attorney’s offices across the country to execute the mission, Operation Restore Justice, over five days.

“Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”

Those arrested are believed to have aided in the production, distribution or possession of child pornography, online enticement and sex trafficking of minors.

Among those apprehended were at least two law enforcement officers listed in a news release from the department – one, a Minnesota state trooper and army reservist who allegedly wore his uniform while making child sex abuse material, and another, a former Washington, D.C., police officer who allegedly trafficked minors. Officials also arrested a Mexican immigrant living in the U.S. illegally in Norfolk, Va., “accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex.”

These cases were brought as part of the department’s Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in 2006 through which federal, state and local groups nationwide partner together to “combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”

“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims – especially child victims – and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”