WASHINGTON — More than five dozen child prostitutes have been found in the last three days as part of a nationwide crackdown on the sexual exploitation of children, the FBI said yesterday.
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said that 69 children were removed from prostitution and that 99 suspected pimps were arrested in 40 cities in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Authorities arrested 785 other adults on a variety of state and local charges, Pack said.
All the children found in the last three days have been placed in protective custody or returned to their families.
The children were found during Operation Cross Country V, a three-day roundup targeting child traffickers and pimps.
The largest group of child prostitutes, 24, was found in and around Seattle, the FBI said.
Shawn Henry, the FBI’s executive assistant director, said the children found ranged in age from 12 to 17.
Authorities are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to confirm their identities.
Henry said child prostitutes are often recruited by loose-knit groups that seek out children who may be involved in drugs or runaways looking for a “responsible adult’’ to help them.
“There are groups of people out there preying on naive kids who don’t have a good sense of the way of the world,’’ Henry said.
“Sometimes there’s a threat of force, threats of violence.’’
In a separate case in Minneapolis, 29 people were indicted in a sex-trafficking ring in which Somali gangs allegedly forced girls under 14 into prostitution in Minnesota, Tennessee, Ohio, and other places, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.
Since 2003, about 1,250 child prostitutes have been located and removed from prostitution.
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said that 69 children were removed from prostitution and that 99 suspected pimps were arrested in 40 cities in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Authorities arrested 785 other adults on a variety of state and local charges, Pack said.
All the children found in the last three days have been placed in protective custody or returned to their families.
The children were found during Operation Cross Country V, a three-day roundup targeting child traffickers and pimps.
The largest group of child prostitutes, 24, was found in and around Seattle, the FBI said.
Shawn Henry, the FBI’s executive assistant director, said the children found ranged in age from 12 to 17.
Authorities are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to confirm their identities.
Henry said child prostitutes are often recruited by loose-knit groups that seek out children who may be involved in drugs or runaways looking for a “responsible adult’’ to help them.
“There are groups of people out there preying on naive kids who don’t have a good sense of the way of the world,’’ Henry said.
“Sometimes there’s a threat of force, threats of violence.’’
In a separate case in Minneapolis, 29 people were indicted in a sex-trafficking ring in which Somali gangs allegedly forced girls under 14 into prostitution in Minnesota, Tennessee, Ohio, and other places, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.
Since 2003, about 1,250 child prostitutes have been located and removed from prostitution.
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