The FBI announced on Monday that a nationwide operation led to the arrests of 159 men charged with forcing about 105 teenage girls to work as prostitutes. The sex workers were mostly all girls between the ages of 13 to 17. However, one girl told authorities she had starting turning tricks at 11 years old, reports the New York Daily News.
The operation was part of a 10 year Justice Department program called the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which works to break up child prostitution rings. The program has led to the convictions of 1,350 people for pimping-related offenses, 10 of whom received life sentences, according to the FBI, reports the New York Times.
Over the last decade, the agency has saved roughly 2,700 children who were working as prostitutes, the agency said.
The rescued sex workers will not be charged as criminals; they will be treated as victims. The FBI arranged for the teens to be placed in foster or group homes and receive care from victim assistance counselors, said Ron Hosko, the assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigations division.
"We are not going to charge child victims of prostitution with prostitution," he said. "We regard them as victims, as they were not able to make a choice for themselves. The goal is to break the cycle so they can rebuild their lives."
Many of the youths are runaways from foster care, who were never reported as missing. Others are troubled teens recruited by exploiters who promise a glamorous alternative to living on the street, authorities said.
"Many times the children that are taken in in these types of criminal activities are children that are dissaffected, they are from broken homes, they may be on the street themselves," acting Executive Assistant Director Kevin Perkins said Monday at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
"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," he said.
Operation Cross Country 6 was carried out over three days, beginning Friday. More than 2,500 state, local and federal agents in 76 cities participated. The majority of arrests were in Detroit, where 18 pimps were taken into custody and 10 girls were rescued, the FBI said. In San Francisco, 17 pimps were held and 12 girls rescued. There were also 17 arrests in Atlanta, where two girls were rescued.
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