30/07/2013 10:16
FBI arrests 150 in child prostitution crackdown
They are mostly teenage girls, often from broken homes where no one misses them. Their world is one of drugs and abuse -- emotional and physical -- in which they are forced to sell their bodies.
According to CNN, in announcing the FBI's latest crackdown on child prostitution, officials Monday described a dark underside of society that has grown through Internet sites that provide pimps easy access to johns in hotels, motels, at truck stops and just about anywhere else.
The nationwide operation over the weekend resulted in 150 arrests, with 105 children between the ages of 13 and 17 rescued, according to Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division.
Overall, the three-day undercover Operation Cross Country took place in 76 cities and involved 230 law enforcement units, Hosko told a news conference.
It was the largest such sweep to date, he said, with 28 searches and 129 seizures of cash, drugs, vehicles and firearms. Those arrested face a variety of federal and state charges, including pimping.
This seventh iteration of Operation Cross Country also was the most successful, with a 30% to 40% increase in "identifying both victims and pimps" compared with previous operations, Hosko said.
He credited the success in part to an expansion of the probe to websites such as www.backpage.com, which he called a forum "where pimps and exploiters gather."