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发帖数: 828 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 ChinaNews 讨论区 】
发信人: oneofall (Gotit), 信区: ChinaNews
标 题: Federal crackdown on child prostitution results in 884 arrests
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Nov 9 11:05:46 2010, 美东)
观看美国扫黄。
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/08/us.child.prostitution/index.html?hpt=T2
(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."
Somali prostitution ring busted RELATED TOPICS
Prostitution and Sex Workers
Child Abuse
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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. |
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