99 suspected pimps arrested in 3 day child exploitation crackdown USA

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Arrests made in Lakewood as part of nationwide child prostitution bust

Posted By Stacey Mulick on November 8, 2010 at 3:45 pm 

Nine women and one juvenile were arrested in Lakewood on prostitution-related charges as part of a national crackdown on sexual exploitation.

Undercover Lakewood officers worked with the local Innocence Lost Task Force on the operation Friday, Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said.

Nationwide, 69 child prostitutes were found during the three-day crackdown nicknamed Operation Cross County V. Of those, two dozen were found in Washington, FBI spokesman Steven Dean told KOMO News.

Nine of the 99 suspected pimps arrested in the three-day enforcement called Operation Cross Country were caught in King, Pierce or Snohomish counties.

The FBI was working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify the children. All have been placed into protective custody or returned to their families.

During the Lakewood operation, undercover operations posed as customers and contacted woman via the Internet, Lawler said.

Tacoma police arrested eight suspects during an operation with the local Innocence Lost Task Force last week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2010/11/08/arrests-made-in-lakewood-as-part-of-nationwise-child-prostitution-bust/

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The Washington Times  
November 9, 2010 Tuesday  
 
FBI-led raids rescue 69 child prostitutes;
885 arrested in multistate sweep
 
Sixty-nine children in 40 cities being used as child prostitutes were rescued over the weekend by a law enforcement task force headed by the FBI, which also arrested 885 people, including 99 suspected pimps.

"Operation Cross Country V," a three-day national enforcement action as part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, targeted truck stops, casinos, street tracks and Internet websites, based on intelligence gathered by the FBI and its local and state law enforcement partners, along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes-against-children task forces," said Shawn Henry, executive assistant director of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization," he said. "Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference."

Twenty-three of the rescued children, all of whom were between 12 and 17, were located in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Others were found in California, Michigan, Illinois and Florida.

The Innocence Lost National Initiative was begun by the FBI in 2003 in conjunction with the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and the NCMEC to address the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States.

In the seven years since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the development of 38 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the U.S. involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working in tandem with U.S. attorney's offices. To date, more than 1,200 children have been rescued and 625 pimps, madams and their associates who exploit children through prostitution have been convicted.

Multiple 25-years-to-life sentences have been obtained in the cases and more than $3.1 million in assets have been seized.

FBI officials Monday said initial arrests often involve violations of local and state laws on prostitution or solicitation and that information obtained from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states.

That information, they said, is developed further in partnership with U.S. attorney's offices and CEOS, after which charges are filed.

"The leadership of the FBI and the Justice Department in attacking domestic child trafficking and prostitution is historic," said Ernie Allen, NCMEC president. "Once again, Operation Cross Country has awakened the nation to the fact that today, American children are being marketed and sold for sex in American cities.

"These kids are victims. This is 21st-century slavery. We are proud to be a part of this extraordinary partnership to rescue children, save lives, and bring the pimps and operators to justice," he said.

The FBI said more than 2,100 local, state and federal law enforcement officers from 186 separate agencies participated in Operation Cross Country and ongoing enforcement efforts.  
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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/fbi_arrests_16_in_nj_prostitut.html
Home > New Jersey Real-Time News > Crime/Courts
FBI arrests 16 in N.J. as part of national child prostitution crackdown
Published: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 8:10 AM     Updated: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 8:20 AM
 The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
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File photoThe FBI Building on McCarter Highway in Newark. The FBI arrested more than 800 people accused of child prostitution in a three-day operation, including 16 in New Jersey.

NEWARK — Sixteen people were arrested by the FBI and local police in New Jersey in the past week as part of a three-day nationwide crackdown on child prostitution, according to the bureau's Newark office.

"Operation Cross Country V,” began on Thursday, when Newark police arrested six prostitutes and two pimps. Two missing children were also recovered.

On Friday, Secaucus police arrested five prostitutes and a pimp, while Newark cops took two more prostitutes into custody. A driver was also arrested by Secaucus police.

Law enforcement will work with the Division of Youth and Family Services in New Jersey to return the recovered children to their homes or place them into foster care.

"The crime of child prostitution is among the most disturbing and heinous offenses law enforcement can investigate," said Michael B. Ward, Special Agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division. "In this world, children are bartered and sold like products on a store shelf with no regard to their well-being or the physical and mental damage done to them."

The arrests were the culmination of an investigation that began in 2008.

FBI officials said the New Jersey area has a "significant amount of child trafficking" because runaways are drawn to the New Jersey/New York area for jobs in the fashion and movie industries.

Atlantic City is also an area targeted by criminals due to the amount of tourism there, officials said.

Nationwide, Operation Cross Country V netted more than 800 arrests, including 99 pimps, across 40 cities.

Sixty-nine children were recovered across the country.