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Sixteen juveniles were recovered and 45 people arrested during a crackdown on child prostitution linked to the Super Bowl, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.
An FBI statement said the youngsters aged between 13 and 17 had been found in an operation targeting commercial child sex trafficking during the American football showpiece.
"High-profile special events, which draw large crowds, have become lucrative opportunities for child prostitution criminal enterprises," Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a statement.
"The FBI and our partners remain committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and putting those who try to profit from this type of criminal activity behind bars," he added.
The FBI worked with more than 50 law enforcement agencies in four states during the crackdown ahead of Sunday's NFL season finale in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Several of the 45 people arrested admitted to traveling to New Jersey "specifically for the purpose of prostituting women and children at the Super Bowl," the FBI said.
The teenagers recovered during the raid included high school students and children who had been reported missing by their families.
Additional enforcement actions also led to the recovery of international human trafficking victims, the FBI added.
Last week U.S. lawmakers warned child prostitution networks were exploiting events like the Super Bowl, with congressman Christopher Smith describing the event as a "sex trafficking magnet."
Smith cited figures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which reported that more than 10,000 women and girls were trafficked to Miami for the 2010 Super Bowl.
Carol Smolenski, of the non-profit End Child Prostitution and Trafficking-USA, testified before lawmakers that around 100,000 children are trafficked into the U.S. sex trade ever year.
© (c) 2014 AFP
10 Comments
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nath
Eh? Disgraceful. Bread and circuses and now perversion?
MarkG
Anyone pimping young children and buying children's devices should be sent to jail for quite a lengthy stay! Disgraceful and discusting!
YuriOtani
Yes if they came from out of state they violated the Mann act which is a federal offense. Then there are the state and local laws. This should send them away for a very long time.
akihase
This sucks. Any person out there doing this crime should be boiled to death.
StormR
Kiddie fiddlers are the scum of the earth.
Frungy
10 000 women and children trafficked during the superbowl and they managed to catch... 45... wow. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It isn't anything to be proud of, it should be a source of national shame that they only put 50 officers on this. Apparently the U.S. government just doesn't view this as a priority. There should have been thousands of officers involved, but all they could manage was 50. Shame on you.
slumdog
Actually, according to the aritcle,10,000 figure is from 2010. The number from this year could be higher.
kaimycahl
@Yuri Otani
I agree Yes if they came from out of state they violated the Mann act which is a federal offense. Then there are the state and local laws. This should send them away for a very long time.
Also for every state of the Union that they cross with these minors they will be charged for trafficking across state lines, that's a lot of counts!
JTDanMan
Well done FBI.
Kuya 808
Frungy FEB. 05, 2014 - 10:35PM JST
Actually the article states that The FBI worked with 50 law enforcement agencies in four States on this case. Note it said agencies and not officers.
Also, the figure of 10,000 was the estimated number of individuals, adults and minors, which were reportedly trafficked for sexual exploitation during the 2010 super bowl in Miami. It was not the number of suspected traffickers. Who knows, maybe 45 is a pretty significant number.
But that’s okay; I know sometimes it’s hard to get the numbers straight; especially if you have your dogma yapping away in the background.