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FBI Rescues Teen Hookers Across US

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 23, 2009 7:02 PM CST

(Newser) – The FBI rounded up 48 suspected teen prostitutes and arrested 571 others on a range of prostitution charges this weekend, the AP reports. The nationwide offensive, Operation Cross Country, rescued girls as young as 13 years old. "The goal is to recover kids," one FBI official said. "We consider them the child victims of prostitution."

The operation, rolled out from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage, is further proof that the FBI is breaking tradition and going after prostitution. The agency also plans to hit pimps with longer sentences than state courts normally hand out. Now the feds are seeking a 16-year-old prostitute they believe is recruiting other teens. She is "at the top of our list," one agent said.

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

FBI Director Robert Mueller. (AP Photo)

Prostitute Patricia West, 22, poses for a photograph in front of City Hall in San Francisco. (AP Photo)

Two prostitutes, nicknamed Zsuzsa, left, and Izabella, right, wait for clients beside a suburban road in Budapest, Hungary, in this Nov. 27, 2003 file photo. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky, file)

A prostitute leans against an alley wall. (Shutterstock)

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To sexually prey upon young girls in this manner for financial gain is particularly damaging to the victims and an affront to the society in which we live. - Loretta King, Justice Department's Civil Rights Division

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 13 comments

riffran

Feb 26, 2009 2:55 AM CST

just the hand??? lol....Your being nice....I would venture to apply the edge lower....and leave it at that

Shannonals

Feb 25, 2009 2:57 AM CST

Nevada has regulated prostitution and you never hear of problems, because the state is making sure they are getting their percentage. Anyone who is cauht supporting child prostitution should have their hand cut off, with no state assitsance

Doctor-Zaius

Feb 24, 2009 5:50 AM CST

How many bootleggers does the FBI catch? Is this the huge problem it was in the 30's?

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US • Crime & Courts

FBI • law enforcement • child abuse • arrest • rescue • child prostitution • sting operations • teenager • pimp

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