In a three-day sweep of 76 cities, the FBI rescued 105 children ages 13 to 17 from prostitution and sexual exploitation. A total of 150 pimps were arrested. Many of the sexually exploited teenagers were being recruited right out of the foster-care system according to John Ryan who is the chief executive of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The nonprofit organization assisted the FBI with the weekend sting.
According to a Los
Angeles Times report on July 29, 2013, John Ryan said that “we are finding
a very disturbing trend. They leave foster care and they literally fall off the
radar. That’s something that needs to be addressed.”
During the FBI raid, Federal agents went undercover out onto
streets and into hotels and casinos in 76 cities nationwide and used social
media platforms as part of their investigating method in "Operation Cross
Country VII, a three-day enforcement action to address commercial child sex
trafficking throughout the United States."
In San Diego, the FBI raid resulted in the rescue of five
teens and the arrest of six pimps. In San Francisco, the FBI raid resulted in
the rescue of 12 teens and the arrest of 17 pimps.
Since 2003, FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative has identified
and rescued more than 2,700 sexually exploited children.
