(Washington)
– “The FBI arrested 150 people across the United States on charges of holding
children against their will for prostitution, a three-day weekend sweep that
officials on Monday called the largest-ever operation against child
sex-trafficking.”
The suspects, whom the FBI refer
to as “pimps”, were arrested in 76 cities across the country. They are expected
to face state as well as federal charges related to sex crimes and human
trafficking. FBI agents and local police were also able to recover 105 children
during the operation from motels, casinos, truck stops and other places where
they were forced to serve as prostitutes, officials said. The FBI believes that
the suspects were not part of the same operation; some belonged to organized
crime while others acted alone. The FBI has recently made investigating child
prostitution a priority in a program it calls Operation Cross Country. At least
1,350 people have been convicted as part of the program and at least 10 of them
have been convicted to life in prison. The latest sweep was the seventh and
largest in the history of the program.
Full account available at