Sting Operation Kicking Pimps Ass in Portland

The three-day national law enforcement Operation Cross Country III recovered another 48 kids.

February 24, 2009

PORTLAND OR NEWS -- Last week, the FBI and partnered law enforcement agencies conducted another three-day national enforcement action called Operation Cross Country III as part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative. This is the third operation, which included enforcement operations in 29 cities across the United States. Law enforcement arrested and charged 571 suspected pimps with a combination of state and federal charges for domestic trafficking of children for prostitution and solicitation. Moreover, Operation Cross Country III led to the recovery of 48 children being prostituted within the country.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III said:

"We continue to pursue those who exploit our nation's children. We may not be able to return their innocence but we can remove them from this cycle of abuse and violence."

On Thursday, February 19, 2009, in Oregon, an overnight sting operation involving dozens of FBI agents, police officers and sheriff's deputies, worked to rescue seven underage girls being pimped in the metro area of Portland. Furthermore, the sting operation was organized in a way to disrupt the cycle of victimization, get them children off the streets, and at the same time develop enough evidence against the pimps who are profiting from the prostitution of the children.

In total six adult pimps at four sites where arrested and charged with a variety of crimes. Also, 14 adult female hookers and three johns were cited during the sting. Meanwhile, the Oregon Department of Human Services started protective service assessments working to provide of seven underage girls with necessary services to enable the girls to live in a secure family environment.

Special Agent in Charge, David Ian Miller, of the FBI - Portland said:

"It is difficult to imagine a crime more depraved than selling our children on the street for sex. By working together with other law enforcement and social service agencies throughout the region, we have a chance to make a difference in these girls' lives and in the quality of the community in which we live."

As of today, the 32 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered 670 children. While the criminal investigations and subsequent convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple 25-years-to-life sentences and the seizure of more than $3 million in assets. Formed in 2003, the Innocence Lost National Initiative program brings state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers all from around the country to National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, where the groups are trained together to find and fight child exploitation. Additionally, the Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice has reinforced the program's training by assigning prosecutors to help forward cases in cities plagued by child prostitution.