FBI raids rescue 105 kids forced into prostitution

A three-day nationwide operation focusing onunderage victims of prostitution — including raids in Los Angeles, Orange andRiverside Counties — resulted in about 150 arrests of alleged pimps and othersuspects and the recovery of 105 sexually exploited children, the FBI announcedtoday.

The sweep took place in 76 cities and was carried out by the FBI inpartnership with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, along withthe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children acrossAmerica,” said Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s CriminalInvestigative Division.

“This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes canhappen anywhere and that the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle ofvictimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitationaccountable,” Hosko said.

Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, said that twominors, aged 15 and 16, were rescued in the Los Angeles area and four allegedpimps were arrested.

“We pro-actively looked for victims of prostitution,” along with locallaw enforcement agencies, she said. Federal agents track victims andvictimizers several ways, most notably online, Eimiller said.

For many pimps, “the preferred way of advertising children and women ingeneral” was online, she said. The nature of online advertising, she said,was that pimps could operate from anywhere and offer women for prostitutionanywhere.

“In many cases, these prostitutes are minors,” Eimiller said.

Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, commended authorities on the operation. “Their efforts again highlight the dire need to focus our attention onpreventing child sex trafficking here in the United States, where over timethis has become a growing concern for too many local communities,” said Bass,who is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.

“Of particular concern to me are the alarming statistics showing thatfar too many trafficking victims are either current or former foster youth,”Bass said. “In my hometown of Los Angeles, over 60 percent of child victims oftrafficking either are or were foster youth, and we know that pimps are nowtargeting foster youth group homes as hubs to recruit vulnerable girls.”

The effort was part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, andwas the seventh — and largest — such enforcement action to date, Hosko said.

Since its creation in 2003, the Innocence Lost National Initiative hasresulted in the identification and recovery of more than 2,700 children whohave been sexually exploited.