Of the 33 children recovered during “Operation Lost Angels”, eight were being sexually exploited at the time of their recovery, the FBI said. The operation began on January 11.
Two children were recovered several times during the operation, the FBI said, noting that it is not uncommon for rescued victims to return to commercial sex trafficking “either voluntarily or by force, fraud or coercion”.
“This damaging cycle highlights the challenges that victims face and those faced by security forces in trying to prevent victims from returning to an abusive situation. Victims may not identify themselves as being trafficked or may not even realize that they are being trafficked,” said the FBI. statement said.
Some of the other victims located during the operation were sexually exploited in the past and were considered to be vulnerable missing children, the statement said.
A human trafficking suspect faces state charges as a result of the operation and several other investigations have been opened, the FBI said.
Some of the rescued minor victims “were arrested for parole violations, theft or other misdemeanors”, while a child was the victim of parental kidnapping without custody, according to the statement.
January is the month of awareness about human trafficking and the number of cases “for crimes related to sex and labor trafficking has increased significantly in recent years,” the statement said.
“The FBI considers human trafficking to be modern slavery and minors involved in commercial sex trafficking are considered victims,” said Kristi Johnson, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office. “Although this operation has generated funds over a limited period of time with great success, the FBI and our partners investigate child sex trafficking every day of the year, 24 hours a day.”
The operation involved the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and more than two dozen other law enforcement agencies, along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Child Services and California Family and Victim Defense Organizations, according to the FBI.
The FBI is working with its partners to provide resources for rescued children, including medical care and legal services.
“Human trafficking is a widespread and treacherous crime that threatens the safety of our young people, who are the future of our communities,” said Los Angeles police chief Michel Moore. “We can only begin to reclaim the future of our youth with strong partnerships between prominent service providers and law enforcement authorities.”
CNN’s Carma Hassan and Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.