150 Arrested, 105 Children Rescued From Prostitution Rings !!!!

July 29, 2013

WASHINGTON -- The FBI announced Monday the arrests of 150 people and recovery of 105 children involved in child prostitution rings across the country.

The 76-city sweep, conducted in the past three days, represents the largest such law enforcement action focused on children forced into sexual slavery, federal authorities said.

Assistant FBI Director Ron Hosko, head of the bureau's criminal division, said the children ranged from 13 to 17 years old. The youngest of the victims was allegedly being offered up by her father, who also was allegedly involved in videotaping his daughter's sexual encounters.

"We have victims whose new normal is sexual abuse,'' Hosko said. "We are trying to take this crime out of the shadows and put a spotlight on it.''

In operations involving 230 separate law enforcement agencies, authorities either made arrests or child recoveries from Atlanta to Los Angeles. The weekend action, called Operation Cross Country, also is the latest in a national campaign that has helped recover 2,700 children since 2005.

Hosko said the children, generally recruited from foster care or group homes, were being offered up on Internet sites, at truck stops, casinos and street corners.

In addition to at least one parent, the alleged pimps included individuals acting alone and some with affiliations to organized crime. In many cases, Hosko said, the children "don't see any avenues of escape'' from their handlers.

John Ryan, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, called the criminal activity "an escalating threat against America's children.''

Ryan said the law enforcement action "is saving lives.''

The largest number of children -- 12 -- were recovered in San Francisco during the weekend sweep. Rhe most alleged pimps --18 -- were arrested in Detroit.

Criminal charges are expected to brought both in the state and federal courts and will involve a variety of offenses, including human trafficking and coercion.

"Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America," Hosko said. "This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes can happen anywhere and that the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitation accountable."

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This is truly unreal!! Wondering if many of the 'missing' will be found now.  

Wondering the same thing too.

"generally recruited from foster care or group homes"

Hopefully they were reported as MISSING to begin with!

True!!! It's simply mind boggling!

How The Social Safety Net Failed The 105 Child Prostitutes Rescued By The FBI

BY AVIVA SHEN ON JULY 30, 2013 AT 1:00 PM
In a three-day crackdown on child prostitution, the FBI recovered 105 children and arrested 150 people involved in sex trafficking across 57 cities. Most of the exploited children are between 13 and 16 years old, and some started as young as 9 or 11. In a press conference Monday, FBI Acting Executive Assistant Director Kevin Perkins explained that prostitution rings target children who come from dire poverty.
“Many times the children that are taken in, in these types of criminal activities, are children that are disaffected, they are from broken homes, they may be on the street themselves — they are really looking for a meal, they are looking for shelter, they are looking for someone to take care of them, and that’s really the first approach that’s made,” said Perkins.
Law enforcement, researchers, and social workers agree that poverty makes teenagers — particularly girls — far more vulnerable to sex traffickers. Many victims also come from homes with drug addiction and abuse. Pimps lure these children with promises of security and sometimes love, and then hold them against their will for years. Perkins warned that the 105 victims will be “taxing” on social services and victim assistance programs going forward, and stressed that they will “need a great deal of help.” Without a strong social safety net, he said, many of these children will likely fall back into prostitution.
While the FBI crackdown has prompted calls for tougher penalties for traffickers and advertisers, the real antidote to child prostitution may need to tackle child poverty. Bolstering social welfare programs could do more to keep children out of the hands of sex traffickers than any law enforcement effort.
The current economic landscape is bleak: the U.S. has one of the worst records in the world on child poverty, which is inexorably on the rise. Roughly 80 percent of Americans are expected to struggle with financial instability at some point in their lives, and most will rely on government safety net programs like food stamps.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the most effective programs to combat this systemic problem, keeping millions of families out of poverty each year. Yet Republican lawmakers are pushing for ever-harsher cuts and more stringent eligibility requirements to food stamps. Meanwhile, 22 million households brace for reduced benefits later this year.
One of the more popular “reforms” to food stamps has made poor families especially easy prey for sex traffickers. In 1996, Congress permanently banned anyone convicted of a drug felony from receiving aid, effectively pushing their families into permanent poverty. One study found that the ban, which disproportionately affects poor women, actually pushed young mothers into prostitution in order to feed their families. Their children, as a result, were likely exposed to the sex trade at a very young age — not to mention a heightened HIV risk.
Many of the children rescued by the FBI had run away from home and were living on the streets when they were lured into sex trafficking. Rather than help these people find shelter or rehab, many cities are actually criminalizing homelessness. Given the ways the system has been stacked against them, many at-risk children have little choice but to turn to the criminal world for help.

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[th]FBI Division[/th][th]Juveniles Recovered[/th][th]Pimps Arrested[/th]

Atlanta	2	10
Baltimore	0	3
Birmingham	3	2
Boston	3	0
Charlotte	1	3
Chicago	2	1
Cincinnati	0	2
Cleveland	1	1
Columbia	1	1
Dallas	1	1
Denver	9	6
Detroit	10	18
El Paso	0	2
Houston	3	0
Jackson	1	10
Jacksonville	0	1
Kansas City	1	1
Knoxville	0	7
Las Vegas	2	1
Los Angeles	2	3
Louisville	0	3
Memphis	3	2
Miami	0	4
Milwaukee	10	0
Minneapolis	1	4
Newark	0	5
New Haven	5	1
New Orleans	6	6
New York City	0	0
Oklahoma City	3	13
Omaha	0	1
Philadelphia	2	0
Phoenix	2	0
Pittsburgh	0	2
Portland	3	4
Sacramento	2	2
St. Louis	2	0
Salt Lake City	0	0
San Antonio	1	4
San Diego	6	6
San Francisco	12	17
Seattle	3	3
Springfield	0	2
Tampa	3	0
Washington, D.C.	0	0
Total	106	152

Odds are good I'm not going to post the trial outcomes of all these individuals. If arrest were made in or near where you live, please feel free to add any additional information here.