314 ‘Johns’ arrested in multi-state sex trafficking sting

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Posted 2/7/12 10:18 a.m.

CHICAGO (WLS) - In hotels and brothels, and via the Internet over a 10-day period ending Monday night, 314 “Johns” were arrested and charged in a multi-state operation targeting sex traffickers.
It’s the result of the second “National Day of Johns Arrests,” following the momentum of last year’s Columbus Day weekend pilot sweep, a Cook County Sheriff’s office release said.
In Cook County alone, there were 76 arrests -- 47 were men and 29 were women, according to Cook County Sheriff’s office spokesman Frank Bilecki. One pimp was arrested and 16 vehicles were towed in the county, he said.
“Large sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, bring out competitiveness in all of us, including, unfortunately, pimps and sex traffickers,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said in the release. “In the days leading up to and including Super Bowl Sunday, my office coordinated with 19 other law enforcement agencies from around the country to send a strong message that our communities refuse to tolerate the sale of human beings for sex.”
The sheriff’s office took the lead in coordinating the nationwide sweep as part of an ongoing effort to highlihgt the role of sex buyers as perpetrators, while also providing support for prostitutes through its Human Trafficking Response Team, the release said.
In total, 556 people were arrested during the sting, including 314 men for soliciting sex; 227 misdemeanor arrests including prostitution; two human traffikcing arrests and five pimping arrests; three pandering arrests; four theft arrests; 10 possession/delivery of drugs arrests; and 12 weapons charges.
There were 667 total charges filed, 114 vehicles towed and up to $474,300 may be collected in fines, the release said.
The FBI Chicago Division, Aurora and Elgin police, and the Kane County Sheriff’s office were the local law enofrmcenet agencies involved. Arrests were also made in Nevada, Arizona, California, Massachusetts and Ohio.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report
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