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baymare

02/01/11 1:10 PM

#126198 RE: PegnVA #126196

AMEN TO THAT!


HERE'S ANOTHER


America's child sex trade
November 14, 2009

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/14/opinion/ed-trafficking14

Autumn is the beginning of a dangerous season for the youngest victims of the sex trade. Sports championships, beginning with the World Series in October, are magnets for traffickers. In upcoming weeks, authorities say, dozens of children will be transported as prostitutes to the National Football League playoffs, the Super Bowl and, in the spring and summer, the NBA finals and other tournaments. But these days, along with the teams and the fans, the FBI will be there too.

Most Americans have heard about children forced into the sex trade, but the recent arrest of 60 suspected pimps and the rescue of 52 children from organized sex rings across the United States should end the illusion that this terrible crime happens only in other countries. In fact, since the FBI started its Innocence Lost National Initiative six years ago, nearly 900 children have been rescued. None of the children rescued in the sweep in late October were brought into the United States from elsewhere. Many were runaways from broken homes. The youngest was 10 years old.