FBI Announces Results of Operation Cross Country XI

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The 11th iteration of Operation Cross Country, the FBI's annual law enforcement action focused on recovering underage victims of prostitution, concluded with the recovery of 84 sexually exploited juveniles.
October 18, 2017
FBI Announces Results of Operation Cross Country XI

Underage Sex Trafficking Crackdown Leads to Recovery of 84 Minors
https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-announces-results-of-operation-cross-country-xi

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the National Center for
   Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), announced today that 84 minors
   were recovered and 120 traffickers were arrested as part of Operation
   Cross Country XI, a nationwide effort focusing on underage human
   trafficking that ran from October 12-15, 2017.
   
   This is the 11th iteration of the FBI-led Operation Cross Country
   (OCC), which took place this year in 55 FBI field offices and involved
   78 state and local task forces, consisting of hundreds of law
   enforcement partners. This year's coordinated operations took place
   with several international partners, including Canada (Operation
   Northern Spotlight), the United Kingdom (Aident 8 ), Thailand, Cambodia,
   and the Philippines.
   
   "We at the FBI have no greater mission than to protect our nation's
   children from harm. Unfortunately, the number of traffickers
   arrested—and the number of children recovered—reinforces why we need to
   continue to do this important work," said FBI Director Christopher
   Wray. "This operation isn't just about taking traffickers off the
   street. It's about making sure we offer help and a way out to these
   young victims who find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of abuse."
   
   As part of Operation Cross Country XI, FBI agents and task force
   officers staged operations in hotels, casinos, and truck stops, as well
   as on street corners and Internet websites. The youngest victim
   recovered during this year's operation was 3 months old, and the
   average age of victims recovered during the operation was 15 years old.
   Minors recovered during Cross Country Operations are offered assistance
   from state protective services and the FBI's Victim Services Division.
   Depending on the level of need, victims are offered medical and mental
   health counseling, as well as a number of other services.
   
   "Child sex trafficking is happening in every community across America,
   and at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, we're
   working to combat this problem every day," said NCMEC President and CEO
   John Clark. "We're proud to work with the FBI on Operation Cross
   Country to help find and recover child victims. We hope OCC generates
   more awareness about this crisis impacting our nation's children."
   
   Operation Cross Country XI is part of the FBI's Innocence Lost National
   Initiative, which began in 2003 and has yielded more than 6,500 child
   identifications and locations. For additional information on Operation
   Cross Country XI and the Innocence Lost initiative, please visit
   www.fbi.gov.
   
   Examples of stories from various cities that took part in Operation
   Cross Country XI:
   
   *  On October 13, FBI Denver recovered two minor girls—one 3-month-old and
      one five-year-old. The subject, a friend of the children's family,
      offered an undercover officer access to the two children for sexual
      purposes in exchange for $600. The FBI is working with Child Protective
      Services to conduct a forensic interview and secure safe placement of
      the children. The subject was placed under arrest.
   
   *  Also on October 13, a 16-year old female victim was recovered by FBI El
      Paso after an undercover agent called an online advertisement for
      entertainment. Shortly thereafter, the agent met with a 21-year-old
      female, who offered a fee of $200 to engage in sexual intercourse with
      her and another female, the 16-year-old victim. Further investigations
      revealed that a second adult female drove the minor and the 21-year-old
      to the undercover agent's location. Both female subjects have been
      arrested on federal charges.

   Note to Editors: B-Roll and interviews associated with Operation Cross
   Country can be downloaded at www.fbi.gov.
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