Child Prostitution Bust Arrests 150 People, Rescues 105 Children

In a well-coordinated sweep spanning over 70 cities the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 150 people and rescued 105 children in a massive operation to shut down child prostitution rings, according to USA Today.

Operation Cross Country was the largest effort to stamp out child prostitution ever undertaken by the FBI and was conducted with the help of local police. The FBI set up the Innocence Lost initiative in 2003 to fight child prostitution. Since it began 2,700 children have been rescued while 1,350 pimps and others have been convicted, according to the Associated Press.

"Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America," Assistant FBI Director Ron Hosko said. "This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes can happen anywhere and that the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitation accountable."

Children ranging from the ages of 13 to 17 years old were rescued in the operation. One victim's own father was serving as her pimp and allegedly videotaped the encounters. Operations in San Francisco recovered 12 children, the most of any city while the most arrests, 18, were made in Detroit, according to USA Today.

FBI Acting Executive Assistant Director Kevin Perkins described to CNN the way that children end up falling into prostitution.

"Many times the children that are taken in in these types of criminal activities are children that are disaffected, they are from broken homes, they may be on the street themselves - they are really looking for a meal, they are looking for shelter, they are looking for someone to take care of them, and that's really the first approach that's made," Perkins said.

Perkins also said that rescuing the children is really just the first step in trying to prepare them for a normal life, and that some of them will fall back into a life of prostitution.

"These children are very damaged - very harmed, and they need a great deal of help - it's really taxing the social welfare agencies and it's something that, going forward, we need to pay particular attention to," Perkins said.

A bill has recently been introduced to Congress that would identify children who have been forced into sex trafficking to be considered victims of abuse, thus granting them certain protections and services provided by child welfare programs, according to the Associated Press.

"In much of the country today if a girl is found in the custody of a so-called pimp she is not considered to be a victim of abuse, and that's just wrong and defies common sense," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said while sponsoring the bill.