tagged w/ Child Prostitution
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Personal Note: I'm not a fan of the FBI, but...
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Federal crackdown on child prostitution results in 884 arrests
By Michael Martinez, CNN
November 8, 2010 5:45 p.m. EST
The FBI was one of several federal agencies involved in the sweep, in which 69 children were recovered.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Authorities say they recovered 69 children from prostitution
* Seattle has 16 kids recovered from prostitution, the most of 40 cities
* The crackdown is part of the ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative
(CNN) -- A three-day federal crackdown on child prostitution rings across the country has resulted in the recovery of 69 children and the arrest of 884 people, including 99 pimps, federal authorities said Monday.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, authorities announced Monday they were arresting 29 individuals involved in gangs that trafficked underage Somali and African-America girls in a prostitution ring. The 29 people were connected to the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws, officials said.
The three-day federal sweep, called Operation Cross Country V, involved 40 cities nationwide and is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, authorities said.
"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 Service Branch, in a written statement. "There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference."
The city where the most children were recovered was Seattle, Washington, with 16, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Seven pimps were arrested there, he added.
Following Seattle were Tacoma, Washington, and Sacramento, California, each with seven child prostitutes retrieved by authorities, Pack said. Two pimps were arrested in Tacoma and three in Sacramento, he said.
The city with the largest number of pimps arrested was Detroit, with 10, Pack said.
To combat growing child prostitution, federal agencies formed the Innocence Lost National Initiative in June 2003 to address enterprises involved in the domestic sex trafficking of children. Those agencies were the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
There are now 39 Innocence Lost task forces and working groups throughout the country.
So far, those units have recovered 1,250 children, and the initiative has resulted in 438 indictments, 625 convictions, 153 criminal enterprises disrupted and 58 successfully dismantled, authorities said. Convictions have resulted in sentences ranging up to 25-years-to-life and in the seizure of more than $3 million in assets, authorities said.
The most recent sweep, over a 72-hour period ending Sunday night, was the fifth such law enforcement operation, said Pack.
"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," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in a written statement. "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."
The FBI says that at least 25 percent of adult prostitutes were enticed into the illegal activity as juveniles.
In Tennessee, federal authorities said the gangs transported the minor girls from Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has a large Somali immigrant community, to Nashville, Tennessee, for prostitution over a 10-year period. Some of the girls were 13 years old or younger.
"I would call this one of the more significant cases that we investigated," said John Morton, director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.Personal Note: I'm not a fan of the FBI, but...... more
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Video at the link...
Child prostitution has become a national problem in this country. Yes, I know that you have trouble believing that. You don't want to believe it, so you tend not to.
"Widespread sex trafficking in children?", you may be saying to yourself. "Sure, it happens overseas in places like Thailand and Moldova, and while there may be some of it here there's not that much of it in our country."
Based on a months long investigation and some reportorial digging, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. We all are. We're in denial.
In covering news for more than 60 years, I'd like to think that few stories shock me anymore. But this is one of them. We ran across it late last year and the more we dug, the more disturbing it became.
Eighty-year-old men paying a premium to violate teenage girls, sometimes supplied by former drug gangs now into child sex trafficking big time? You've got to be kidding. Nope. That's happening and a lot more along the same lines.
The business is booming. One of the worst areas for it runs along lines running roughly from Seattle to Portland, to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to Las Vegas. But no place in the country is immune.
To pick just one example among many, Portland, Oregon is without doubt one of the nation's treasures. It has been voted one of the best places to live and work. But according to police, the city and its outlying communities has become a hub for the sexual exploitation of children. In a recent nationwide sting by Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Portland ranked second in the country for the number of rescued child prostitutes. And according to Doug Justus, the workhorse sergeant in charge of Portland's tiny Vice Detail, many of the children caught up in this are middle class kids from the area.
Read more at the link......
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/pornland-oregon-child-pro_b_580035.htmlVideo at the link...
Child prostitution has become a national problem in this... more
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Interview with Divine Word Missionaries.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Interview with Divine Word Missionaries.
Over five million people have died during... more
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Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in... more
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Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in... more
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Interview with ORPER.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukald_ZOvq0Interview with ORPER.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as... more
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Interview with ICRC.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgdaXLQe7AInterview with ICRC.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a... more
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Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, told The Associated Press he raised his daughter for several years but last month decided to let her stay with her mother. He said Davis struggled financially over the years, but she recently obtained a job and her own place, so Lockhart decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.
The mother of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared in North Carolina was charged Saturday with human trafficking and other offenses, though authorities said they still did not know the girl's whereabouts.
Antoinette Nicole Davis, the mother of Shaniya (shuh-'NY-uh) Davis, faces a child abuse charge involving prostitution as well as filing a false police report, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department. The release did not say whether the charges were related to her daughter's disappearance. Telephone messages and an e-mail left for police were not immediately returned.
Shaniya's mother reported the girl missing Tuesday morning from a mobile home community in Fayetteville, and authorities began searching nearby wooded areas. The following day a man described as Davis' boyfriend was arrested in the kidnapping but later released.Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, told The Associated Press he raised his... more
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A nationwide crackdown on child prostitution rescued eight children in Seattle and one in Everett - more than any other metropolitan area in the United States.
"It's big problem here ... not just in Washington, but the entire country," says Robbie Burroughs of the FBI's Seattle office.
More child prostitutes were found in the Puget Sound region than in Cleveland, which had seven, and New York City, with five. The youngest victim nationwide was just 10 years old. In Seattle, the youngest was 14.
"Anybody who lives in our state or in this country should be concerned that our children are being recruited into this kind of life and being exploited through prostitution," Burroughs says.
The FBI won't comment specifically on the nine children - except to point out that, generally speaking, they're targeted on the Internet and at shopping malls.
The pimps look for young people with low self-esteem or possible drug abuse -- and that's when they move in and seize the opportunity.
Eileen Corcoran, a former child prostitute who has now cleaned up her life, told KOMO News that many of the girls are lured into that kind of life with no idea how it will all end up.
"These girls are pushed out there on a daily basis with no idea the first time going out there, what they're venturing into," she says. "The life I got to was behind heroin, and I never thought I would do the things I did to chase my drug."
She got clean 10 years ago with the help of counseling, and turned her life around. Now she rescues other child prostitutes. She started a nonprofit organization called RISE, for Rising Above Sexual Exploitation.
She says many of the girls want fast money.
"They want to have the nice clothes and find new friends and they want to feel like they're a part of something,' she says. "But what they don't know is that they're going to become a part of something that is very very dangerous."
Officials say Washington is considered a source state, meaning there have been juvenile prostitutes that have been found in other areas in California and Arizona.
As part of the operation, Seattle and Everett police arrested and charged four pimps and 23 adult prostitutes.
The children themselves are getting help. Some of the girls will be put back into stable family situations. Others, who don't have that support, will be helped by state agencies.A nationwide crackdown on child prostitution rescued eight children in Seattle and one... more
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(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"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," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps... more
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Court documents say he identified himself online as ‘perv dad for fun’
A Duke University official has been arrested and charged with offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex.
Frank Lombard, the school's associate director of the Center for Health Policy, was arrested after an Internet stinFrank Lombardg, according to the FBI's Washington field office and the city's police department.
According to an affidavit by D.C. Police Detective Timothy Palchak, an unnamed informant facing charges in his own child sex case led authorities to Lombard.Court documents say he identified himself online as ‘perv dad for fun’... more
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This film gives a voice to the exploitation of children through prostitution, human trafficking and child labour.
Why are the worse things we do, usually the last things we put right.This film gives a voice to the exploitation of children through prostitution, human... more
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Tatiana Tye and Jazmine Finley, both sixteen, have been accused of pimping other teens. They are believed to have recruited at least five girls, ages 14 to 17, from their high schools. Tye's grandmoother is pushing her to fight the charges.Tatiana Tye and Jazmine Finley, both sixteen, have been accused of pimping other... more
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Feds rescue dozens of teens, arrest more than 50 alleged pimps
The FBI has rescued more than 45 suspected teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 50 alleged pimps, according to preliminary bureau data.
The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in anti-prostitution crackdowns, but the FBI is becoming more involved as it tries to rescue children caught up in the business.
"The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
"Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term 'throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," Roberts said.
Kids in custody
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
Agents in cities from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage, Alaska took part in the operation.
The federal effort is also designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
Government prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of jail time.
"Some of these networks of pimps and their organizations are very sophisticated, they're interstate," said Roberts, requiring wiretaps and undercover sting operations to bring charges.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
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Should the people responsible for this be charged at child predators?Feds rescue dozens of teens, arrest more than 50 alleged pimps
The FBI has rescued... more
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Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.
www.createspace.com/256766Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in... more
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Just sayin',,,if a person has EIGHTY ONE submissions on problems in USA (with 3 exceptions), just maybe they should care as much about their country...like "sweep around your own back door before trying to sweep someone elses"....and I am sure there are other problems as well. WE ALL have them . STOP the HATE against USA!!!Just sayin',,,if a person has EIGHTY ONE submissions on problems in USA (with 3... more
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More than 600 adults have been arrested in raids across the US targeting people who force children into prostitution.
Operations took place in 29 cities in a co-ordinated action involving federal, state and local law officers, according to the FBI. Officials said 12 large-scale prostitution rings were dismantled in the raids and 47 children rescued. Since 2003, 575 child prostitutes have been saved from exploitation by American criminal gangs, they added.
Officials said many of the prostitution rings broken up were operated through call centres, truck stops, casinos and websites. The FBI generally gets involved in child prostitution cases that cross state lines. At a news conference announcing the results of Operation Cross Country II, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said the arrests were made possible by intelligence gathered during similar raids in June.
"Sex trafficking of children remains one of our most violent and unconscionable crimes in this country," he said. The 47 rescued children range in age from 13 to 17, and all but one are female.
Of these, Mr Pistole said, 10 had been reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A total of 642 people were arrested. They included 73 pimps and 518 adult prostitutes, according to the FBI.
Correspondents say child prostitution has become an urgent issue in recent years, as demonstrated by the growth of online networks where pimps advertise youngsters to clients. A recent University of Pennsylvania study estimated that nearly 300,000 children in the US are at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial purposes.
"Make no mistake, the minors who were interdicted as a part of this operation are victims of the most extreme form of sex trafficking," said acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich.
"It sadly remains the case even now in 2008 that there remain instances of children in the United States manipulated into prostitution by pimps willing to make a fast buck based on the most vulnerable among us," he said. More than 600 adults have been arrested in raids across the US targeting people who... more
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Shocking and heart-rending secret footage takes us into the heart of Cambodia's child sex trade. We see girls as young as ten offered for sex, and uncover a web of corruption that shows little remorse.
Chanting 'yum yum', the slang for oral sex, girls clamour for attention in a back streets brothel. They are ten years old. "Cambodian men believe that having sex with virgins boosts their sexual appetite, their strength, their integrity," explains Mu Sochua, Minister for Women's Affairs. Sunremita was tricked by her mother into prostitution to make money for her sick relatives. But the proliferation of child prostitutes is down to more than just poverty -- rife corruption also compounds the problem. In Svey Pak, police storm a brothel. A few girls are collected, but pimps and owners are left in peace. "For every single hour that [the brothels] operate the police are paid to let them," states Sochua. Even when paedophiles are arrested, it seems easy to escape justice. Photos of padlocks locked around the genitals of a 13-year old boy clearly show sexual abuse. But the French national accused walked away from court free, despite photos and the testimony of ten boys. Pol Pot tried deliberately to destroy the family; greed and corruption will hopefully not finish the job.Shocking and heart-rending secret footage takes us into the heart of Cambodia's... more
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saskia
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added this
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4 years ago
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Girls as young as 10 are being lured into prostitution by teenage boys who charm them, offer them gifts and gain their trust, the Home Office said today.
The Home Office is funding a video produced with the UK Internal Trafficking Group which will go to schools and youth groups to warn young people of the risk of so-called "internal trafficking".
It is also working with other agencies to find out the scale of the problem, a spokeswoman said.
She said the Home Office is working with police forces and health services - especially sexual health clinics - to make sure victims are identified and can be offered help.
Girls as young as 10 are being lured into prostitution by teenage boys who charm them,... more
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