California sex traffic crackdown leads to 611 arrests, 14 kids rescued from ‘modern slavery’: officials

A massive crackdown on sex trafficking across California led to 600 arrests and the rescue of over 150 victims including children from “modern slavery” plaguing the Golden State, officials said Tuesday.

Los Angeles law enforcement officials from multiple agencies announced the busts during a news conference — saying the massive “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild” uprooted brothels and even a network that forced 14 female inmates into sex work.

The arrested included 71 alleged traffickers, 328 “johns” or sex buyers and 16 people arrested for non-human trafficking sex trafficking offenses. With other charges included, the total number arrested in the collaborative effort totaled 611, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters.

“People who are buying sex, these are young victims — 13-, 14- and 15-year-old little girls, little boys. It is absolutely sickening.”

In total, some 156 adults and 14 children across the state were rescued, he added.

“This effort is focused on rescuing victims of human trafficking, and connecting them to services and support they need to heal and rebuild their lives,” Luna said.

He added that the operation was aiming to restore, “dignity, safety and hope to people who have been exploited.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said an illicit network of human trafficking is creating “corridors” of illegal activity across the state.

“How embarrassing that I can actually say that we have corridors of human sex trafficking throughout Los Angeles County,” he said. “It’s also a dubious distinction that Los Angeles County is one of the epicenters of human sex trafficking in the entire nation. This is a multibillion-dollar industry.

“It’s nothing short of modern slavery.”

The sheriff went on to give details on three specific incidents that led to arrests, including parole compliance investigations that resulted in six arrests and the recovery of stolen drugs and weapons.

A month-long investigation from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office uncovered a “jail pen pal mail system to pander female inmates into prostitution for financial gain.”

Some 14 victims from that case were identified and the perpetrator — Adrian Wilson — was re-booked on 14 counts of pandering, officials said.

The final example Luna highlighted involved the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, which investigated a citizen complaint about a potential brothel in Walnut.

That resulted in the arrest of six traffickers and the identification of multiple residential brothels in Walnut.

He also issued a strict warning for anyone involved in human trafficking: “We’re coming after you.”

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“Don’t do this. You’re gonna be arrested, you’re gonna be prosecuted… and you’re gonna be held accountable,” Luna insisted.

Luna added that the investigation coinciding with Sunday’s Super Bowl is no coincidence, adding the big game, “unfortunately tends to connect, no matter where the game is being played,” with human trafficking.

Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said that the City of Angels is one of the biggest human trafficking hubs in the United States.

“We have traffickers that are putting barely teenage girls on the streets of Los Angeles to be victimized, repeatedly, over and over again,” Hamilton said.

“These children did not come from one place. They came from Chicago, from Oklahoma, from Missouri, tribal lands … and from communities right here in the state of California,” he added.