FBI child trafficking crackdown leads to 120 arrests and rescue of 84 kids, including 3-month-old baby
FBI led multi-agency effort at recovering children and holding sex traffickers accountable nets over 100 suspects
Trafficker tried to sale infant and 5-year-old sister for $600 – tots rescued by FBI intervention in sex trafficking sweep
The four-day crackdown, Oct 12 to 15, was a joint operation by feds and hundreds of state and local law enforcement officials
The nationwide sting led to the arrest of 120 suspected pimps, prostitutes and their clients
The average age of victims recovered during the operation was 15 years old, the youngest victim was just three months old
One of the child victims rescued during this month’s Operation Cross Country sweep, seen sitting on a bed
An FBI sex trafficking crackdown has led to the recovery of 84 exploited children, among them infants and toddler. 120 suspects were arrested in the nationwide sting operation.
The annual crackdown which lasted four days, from October 12-15, saw a coordinated operation by agents from 55 field offices and hundreds of state and local law enforcement officials participated in Operation Cross Country XI targeting human traffickers.
As part of the operation, FBI agents and task force officers carried out stings in hotels, casinos, and truck stops, as well as on street corners.
Feds also used social media to target pimps, prostitutes and their customers, scouring internet websites visited by sex industry workers and their johns.
FBI agents used decoy flesh trade ads for the stings on Internet websites visited by pimps, prostitutes, and their punters
![Maya Davis [left], 21, and Tiffany Evans [right] .png](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/maya-davis-left-21-and-tiffany-evans-right.png?resize=620%2C382&ssl=1)
Suspects: Maya Davis [left], and Tiffany Evans [right], were arrested on prostitution charges during Operation Cross Country
![Cabrial Hamilton [left] and Nina Byrd [right] .png](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cabrial-hamiltonc2a0left-and-nina-byrd-right.png?resize=620%2C386&ssl=1)
Also arrested for prostitution in the sting, Cabrial Hamilton [left] and Nina Byrd [right]
Feds caught up with a human trafficker as she is trying to escape in her tractor trailer
A would be trafficker targeted a 3-month-old and her five-year-old sister
“We at the FBI have no greater mission than to protect our nation’s children from harm,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “Unfortunately, the number of traffickers arrested and the number of children recovered reinforces why we need to continue to do this important work.”
The youngest victim rescued during this year’s bust was just three months old, and the average age of victims recovered during the operation was 15 years old.
“The threat of child sex trafficking is something the FBI works on every single day,” said Calvin Shivers, special agent in charge of the Denver Division. “Operation Cross Country gives us the opportunity to shine a light on this threat and to educate the public.”
‘This operation isn’t just about taking traffickers off the street. It’s about making sure we offer help and a way out to these young victims who find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of abuse.’
Now in its 11th year, Operation Cross Country has expanded beyond the US borders, with Canada, the United Kingdom, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand undertaking similar operations.
Feds and their local partners busted suspects offering children for sex in hotels in places like Colorado, Wyoming and Texas
Rescued teens and their tools for the sex trade, displayed at site of a sting
This year’s four-day sting operation resulted in arrests of 120 accused sex traffickers
Their efforts were coordinated with the FBI and its local partners, along with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
‘Child sex trafficking is happening in every community across America and at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, we’re working to combat this problem every day,” said NCMEC president and CEO John Clark.
During operations by FBI Denver’s Rocky Mountain Innocence Lost Task Force, a three-month-old girl and her five-year-old sister were rescued on October 13 after a friend who was staying with the family made a deal with an undercover task force officer to sell both children for sex in exchange for $600.
The Denver task force is responsible for rescuing a total of 17 children across Colorado and Wyoming.
On the same day, a 16-year old girl was recovered by a FBI field office in El Paso, Texas, after an undercover agent answered an online ad offering entertainment.
Young trafficking victims being rescued by FBI
The FBI’s annual nationwide sex trafficking crackdown has led to the recovery of 84 exploited children, average age, 15. The youngest among them, a three-month-old who was targeted along with her five-year-old sister
According to the FBI, the agent set up a meeting with a 21-year-old woman, who said that it would cost him $200 to have sex with her and the 16-year-old victim. The woman and an accomplice were arrested.
All of the rescued children were offered services by specialists who are either part of the FBI’s Victim Services Division or members of other local and state law enforcement agencies.
The FBI first launched its Innocence Lost National Initiative in 2003. Since that first iteration in 2003, FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative has led to the prosecution of countless sex traffickers. It has resulted in the identification and recovery of more than 6,500 children from child sex trafficking and the prosecution of a large number of traffickers. 30 of those have received life sentences.
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