Innocence Lost National Initiative, a federal
agency founded seven years ago to help end child sex trafficking, has begun a 72-hour
sweep across the United States to repress child prostitution.
Ernie Allen, president of the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, stated in a written report: "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."
Currently, there are 39 Innocence Lost
task forces and working groups like Justice's Child Exploitation-Obscenity and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The sweep was named Operation Cross
Country V. It included forty major states and ended last Sunday night. In
Tennessee, twenty-nine individuals in gangs were arrested for trafficking young
Somali and African-American girls.
"The city where the most children were recovered was Seattle, Washington with sixteen and seven pimps were arrested there," said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack.
The
most pimps were said to be found in Detroit, Michigan. 10 were arrested.
In total, federal agencies recovered 69 children and arrested 884 people and 99 pimps after the sweep, according to CNN News.