More than 100 teens rescued in weekend sex trafficking raids: FBI

[Stuart G]

Source: NBC

By Pete Williams and Erin McClam, NBC News

More than 100 teenagers involved in sex trafficking and exploitation were rescued over the weekend in coordinated raids encompassing more than 70 cities, the FBI said Monday.

The youngest child was 13 years old, the agency said.

The raids resulted in the arrest of 150 “pimps” involved in the commercial exploitation of both adults and children, said Ronald Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division.

It was the FBI’s largest action to date focusing on the recovery of sexually exploited children, and took law enforcement agencies to streets, motels, casinos and social media platforms, Hosko said. He said he hoped it would focus attention on sex trafficking, “this threat that robs us of our children.”



Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/29/19754475-more-than-100-teens-rescued-in-weekend-sex-trafficking-raids-fbi-says?lite

[Sentath]

1. horrifying, amazing

How can a civilisation psychologically immunize against exploitation?

[ErikJ]

2. Another example of why the US needs surveillance.

The modern world we live in with homegrown and outside terrorism, child predators and corporate corruption gone wild.

[alp227]

6. What? remember what ben franklin said about liberty and security?

[ErikJ]

8. Yeah, back in the day of muskets and snail mail.

Times change. And most girls were married by 12-14 anyway werent they?

[alp227]

10. So are you willing to have your internet monitored

to prove you are not a child predator?

[Kelvin Mace]

9. We have always had child predators

and I do not see how creating a bigger police state will stop this. Also, despite all the surveillance that goes on now, we still have kids exploited and molested every day.

[RC]

11. How many cameras would you allow in your home?

You OK with that, as long as there is no camera facing the toilet? For all we know, you might be the next Ted Bundy. We'd better keep an eye on you, just in case.

[quakerboy]

13. Or, better yet, we can just put tracking chips in everyone at birth

Bam. Problem solved.


Alternately, instead of going nuts, spending untold billions on universal surveillance that seems to be a failure that misses most things of important because they are lost in a gigantic universe of mostly irrelevant data, we could put those resources towards things that might make a difference.

Like increasing pay and reducing work weeks so that parents have time to spend at home with their kids
Like changing the structure of our police departments so that they can successfully interact with schools, neighborhoods, etc, so that they can actually catch things like this before they involve hundreds of people. Instead of just pepper spraying protestors and shooting at scary black people.
Like ending the drug war so that those resources can be used for things that actually matter.

Ya know.. things that matter and help people. Not things who's primary real function is to spy on sexting between opposition politicians and listen in to titalating conversations between oversees soldiers and their sweethearts back home.

[ErikJ]

15. Or stop terrorising and drone-bombing the Muslim world to steal their resources?

The US in its never ending quench for oil is striking the hornets nest over and over. Until we stop terrorising the mideast we will need good surveillance. Priorities.

[sulphurdunn]

21. This is pretty good i.e.

we need a criminal surveillance state to protect us from our criminal government's victims. Brilliant!

[PSPS]

17. There isn't room for me where you are -- under your bed wetting yourself with fear

Don't expect the rest of the country to capitulate its freedom just to accommodate your irrational fear of everything.

[ErikJ]

18. Think of the children then. Stop being so selfish.

[PSPS]

19. A camera in your house and eavesdropping on your phone calls and email won't affect my kids' safety.

And, you know what? It won't affect your kids' safety either. Sorry.

[geek tragedy]

3. Pimps are one of the lowest forms of life on planet earth. nt

[LanternWaste]

4. I will never understand the depths of greed for money that compels an individual...

I will never understand the depths of greed for money that compels an individual to implicate himself into these endeavors, nor the disregard for others by those who use these services.

Granted, my 47 years of life have been relatively sheltered, and that naivety on my part pretty much denies me the ability to see into the hearts or minds of these people on anything other than an academic level, but just once, I'd like an Human Microscope that peers into the inner workings of these people's minds.

But having had this discussion a few times in the before, I'm told every time that "no... don't look into the abyss unless you have to. Even a glance will scar you", so maybe it's better that I stay ignorant of what makes them tick.


Those poor, poor children.

[yurbud]

5. if they found the ring led all the way up to Wall Street...

the ringleaders would be fined and later given a cabinet level appointment, regardless of which party held the White House.

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Blame it on pimps, blame in on society, blame it on the parents

but the bottom line is, there's a market for this filth and it wouldn't happen if that weren't the case.

[Stuart G]

12. So, I ask this..who is buying this filth?...think about that???nt

[Le Taz Hot]

16. For a time, I worked as a teacher

with a parole population. Some of those students began prostituting well before the age of 18. According to them, the Johns would surprise most people. Ministers, politicians, celebrities, average working joes/janes -- basically there's no pattern to it except that they're all sick, sick people who need to be locked up.

[ancianita]

14. Won't believe it 'til I see and hear the kids' testimony. Not 'til I see the pimps' names published.

I just don't believe that the FBI does that kind of 'public good.' Sex trafficking grows in countries that don't take adequate care of their children to begin with. Dwindling, resource-starved and non-existent public institutions that can help in child care, leave time for parents, schools, whole food access, meaningful art and athletic activities are the norm in this country.

I don't trust the FBI and I don't trust their reasons for doing this.

[last1standing]

20. Now what?

I'm very glad these kids have been rescued but what programs are in place to keep them from falling right back into the same lives? Will they be provided with safe homes, food, and education? Or will they be shoved into the same system that pushed most of these teens into sex slavery to begin with?

I hate to drag down a feel-good story but without a working social safety net, "rescuing" kids from sex traffickers seems to be much like defending the "unborn" while cutting food stamps for the poor. I'd rather we saved 25 teens and provided them with a future than over 100 who will almost certainly be back on the streets in a few months.