During the past week, the FBI; its local, state, and federal law enforcement partners; and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) conducted another stage of Operation Cross Country, week-long enforcement actions to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States. This is the eighth of such week-long operations that has occurred in the past year
Operation Cross Country VIII included enforcement agencies in over 100 cities nationwide and resulted in the rescue of 168 children from prostitution and 281 arrests of pimps on state and federal charges.
In total, Operation Cross Country has rescued nearly 3,600 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 1,450 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including 14 life terms and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.
The FBI reported that two juveniles were rescued in Dallas, four were rescued in Houston and six were located in San Antonio. Also, as a part of current open cases a total of ten suspects have been taken into police custody in Texas.
John Ryan, President and CEO of NCMEC stated, “Operation Cross Country reveals that children are being targeted and sold for sex in America every day.” Unfortunately, officials say a major challenge was that several of the rescued children were never reported missing.
