Trafficking Victims as Young as 9
Submitted by Monica Schultz
Adapted from a USA Today article by Mike Snider
A massive investigation into child sex trafficking resulted in the rescue of 60 “critically missing” children in Florida’s Tampa Bay area, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced. Eight people were arrested, with charges including human trafficking, child endangerment, drug possession, and drug trafficking. The investigation was focused on recovering or safely locating ”critically missing” children. The children’s ages ranged from 9-17, officials said.
“I have to curtail my enthusiasm because of the sensitivity of the victims involved in this operation, but the successful recovery of 60 missing children, complemented with the arrest of eight individuals, including child predators, signifies the most successful missing child recovery effort in the history of the United States Marshals Service; or to my knowledge, any other operation held in the United States,” said William Berger, U. S. Marshal for the Middle District of Florida.