"Innocence
Lost" Sting: Sixteen-City
Sweep Marks 5th Anniversary
From
the Federal Bureau of Investigation
 |
Director Mueller speaks to reporters
during a press conference announcing the results of Operation
Cross Country,
a five-day
sweep that targeted criminals involved in trafficking children
for prostitution. With Mueller is Ernie Allen, President
and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children.
FBI Photo |
Today we announced
the results of an unprecedented five-day nationwide sweep targeting
criminals involved in trafficking children for prostitution in
the United States. The stings, dubbed “Operation Cross Country,” spanned
16 cities and resulted in the arrest of 389 people and the recovery
of 21 children.
The coordinated
operation, which ended June 22, was the largest in the history
of the Innocence Lost National Initiative,
which marks its five-year anniversary
this month. To date, the initiative has rescued more than 400 child victims
and led to the conviction of 308 individuals who exploited children through
prostitution. Investigations have uncovered schemes that run the gamut from
prostituting children at truck stops to promoting their services on the Internet.
“The sex trafficking of children remains one of the most violent and unforgivable
crimes,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said during a press conference at
FBI Headquarters. “What is different as we stand here today is that we
are faced with the increasing use of social network sites and other advances
in technology to carry out these crimes and facilitate these criminal enterprises.”
The Innocence
Lost initiative was created in 2003 to address the growing
problem of child prostitution in America. Our Criminal Investigative
Division partnered with the Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section
of the Department of Justice and with the nonprofit National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to bring
together state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors,
and social service providers. The initiative’s 24 task
forces and working groups have recovered 433 children to date
and seized over $3 million in assets.
“Child
trafficking for the purpose of prostitution is organized criminal
activity using kids as commodities for sale and trade,” said
NCMEC President and CEO Ernie Allen during the press conference. “These
kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This
is 21st century slavery.”
More than
350 state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies participated
in “Operation Cross Country." The 16 cities targeted
spanned the country, ranging from Boston to Miami to San Francisco.
They focused primarily on rescuing kids and identifying the
organized networks that target and traffic children. The operation
was the largest since 2005, when a nationwide sweep identified
some 30 child victims and led to the arrest of 19 individuals.
Our partnership
with NCMEC has resulted in a significant number of success
stories. Examples include:
In
addition to the Innocence Lost initiative, our Crimes Against
Children program manages Child Abduction Rapid Deployment
(CARD) Teams, which support
state
and local law enforcement in investigations, and the Innocent Images
National Initiative, which targets the proliferation of child
porn.
The message
to the public, NCMEC’s Allen said, is: "If you see it
in your city, if you hear about it, if you suspect it, report
it." To
do that, please contact the NCMEC hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST
or file a report through its CyberTipline.