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Tuesday 30 July 2013

Three-day FBI Raid Rescues 105 Children From Prostitution As 150 Arrested

FBI agents wait to escort police officers
Operation Cross Country was the largest such sweep to date against child prostitution. Photograph: Ana Martinez/REUTERS

FBI agents have rescued more than 100 children forced into prostitution by sex traffickers, during a three-day sweep across the US.
As part of Operation Cross Country, 150 people were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the sexual exploitation of children.
The raids took place in 76 cities, representing the largest such enforcement action to date, according to an FBI release.
Announcing the arrests, Ron Hosko, assistant director of the bureau's Criminal Investigative Division, said: "Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America.
"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."

The sweep, the seventh such nationwide operation, was conducted as part of the FBI's Innocence Lost National Initiative, which seeks to bring together state and federal level bodies to crackdown on child prostitution. Agents recovered 105 sexually exploited children in the course of the operation.
Since its creation in 2003, the programme has identified and rescued 2,700 children who have been forced into prostitution. Arrests made during the raids have resulted in prison sentences of up to 50 years for child sex traffickers.

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