FBI: Stings rescue 11 local underage sex workers
PORTLAND, Ore. - In the second such sting this year, law enforcement agents swept the Portland area in search of child-sex-trafficking rings.
They say their search through five Oregon and Southwest Washington neighborhoods - some under investigation for months - turned up four underage girls, eight adult “pimps,” 29 adult female prostitutes and one customer. Agencies will not reveal exact locations, "due to on-going investigative efforts," according to a press release.
This sting follows another in February that turned up a reported seven underage girls, six adult pimps, 14 adult female prostitutes and three customers or other associates. In February, Portland's total of seven underage girls was the second highest number for any FBI sweep site in the U.S. at that time.
As of Monday afternoon, Portland police have released the name of one of the alleged "pimps" arrested in the raid. Her name is Tiffany Solitaire, a woman they say was prostituting a 15-year-old girl in Portland. The sergeant of the sexual assault unit told KATU that, though it is not the norm to have a woman acting as a pimp, it does happen.
How it works
The stings are part of the the FBI’s Innocence Lost program, designed to "disrupt the cycle of victimization by getting children off the streets." The national "Innocence Lost" project operates from more than 30 FBI offices. Portland's FBI office joined the project in 2009.
Dozens of federal and local agents, officers and deputies in Oregon worked together in a coordinated strike against the growing problem of children forced into sex trafficking. This year's sweep efforts have been dubbed “Operation Cross Country IV.” It's a partnership with prosecutors, social service providers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to arrest the alleged perpetrators and rescue the alleged victims.
The stings in Oregon occurred Thursday, Oct. 22, while teams in other parts of the country continued into the weekend.
The Oregon Department of Human Services has started protective service assessments, and is working with various social service agencies to provide each child with necessary services. Officers and deputies from various local agencies took custody of the pimps, charging them with a variety of crimes. They cited the female prostitutes and arrested the "john."
“We, as a society, will not tolerate what basically amounts to selling these kids as sex slaves," said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, in a release. "By working together with all of these other local law enforcement and social service agencies, we hope to truly have a positive impact on their lives.”
Participating local agencies
Law enforcement agencies taking part in Operation Cross Country IV in the Portland-metro area include: the FBI's Portland Division, Portland Police Bureau, Vancouver Police Department, Hillsboro Police Department, Beaverton Police Department, Gresham Police Department, Tigard Police Department, Eugene Police Department, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Multnomah County Parole and Probation, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Victim assistance professionals, therapists, and/or child protective service caseworkers from the following agencies provided services to the children: the FBI's Portland Police Bureau, the Multnomah and Washington County District Attorney’s Offices, the Sexual Assault Resource Center, Lifeworks Northwest, New Options for Women, Multnomah County Department of Community Justice's Juvenile Services Division, Washington County Department of Human Services, Clackamas County Department of Human Services, the Oregon Department of Human Resources and the YWCA. This effort was coordinated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in conjunction with the Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force.
Just one of many stings
In nationwide efforts, over the past 72 hours "more than 50 children were rescued during Operation Cross Country IV," according to an FBI report distributed to KATU.
The operation included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions around the country and led to the recovery of 52 children who were being victimized through prostitution. Additionally, 691 others - including 60 pimps - were arrested on state and local charges.
“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country," Perkins said, "as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces.”
Task Force operations usually targets such places as truck stops, casinos, street “tracks” and Internet Web sites "based on intelligence gathered by officers working in their respective jurisdictions," according to the FBI report.
Initial arrests are often violations of local and state laws relating to prostitution or solicitation. Agents say that information gathered from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states.
Since its founding in spring 2003, the "Innocence Lost" initiative's 34 task forces and working groups have recovered nearly 900 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 510 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple 25-years-to-life sentences and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.
“Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organized criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade,”
“These kids are victims; they lack the ability to walk away," said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "This is 21st Century slavery."
And it's right here in the Pacific Northwest.
Nearly 1,600 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers - representing 112 separate agencies - participated in Operation Cross Country and ongoing enforcement efforts.
The charges announced Monday are merely accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
NOTE: These suspected child-sex-ring arrests are in addition to a Newberg case that made national news earlier this month. Find details on that case, and other KATU.com coverage of sex abuse and prostitution rings, here.
