Officials confirmed on Thursday the fourteen people were arrested and 10 victims of sex trafficking were rescued in a sting operation at the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego, California, last week. The annual convention dedicated to comic books and pop culture held in San Diego has attracted crowds of over 130,000 in recent years. San Diego ranks 13th for human trafficking in large cities.
The California Department of Justice’s San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force launched an undercover operation to target sex trafficking at the convention that unfolded from July 25-27, with law enforcement personnel posing undercover as sex buyers in a bid to identify and contact potential trafficking victims. Prosecutors said in a news release that they posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to hone in on sex buyers, and in the three-day sting, 14 sex buyers were arrested, and face solicitation charges. Nine adult potential victims of sex trafficking were recovered, and a 16-year-old juvenile was also recovered.
According to a statement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes federal, state and county-level detectives, went to Comic-Con to find victims of sex trafficking and “sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims.” Bonta confirmed that 10 potential sex-trafficking victims — including a 16-year-old girl — were saved from offering “services” as part of a joint investigation by the. San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. The arrested individuals now face charges for soliciting, which in California is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or up to six months in jail for a first offense.
Bonta said in a statement that sex traffickers “capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to export their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most .. Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”
Comic-Con called the sting operation “very disturbing,” and said the arrests “were made outside of the event” but otherwise had no knowledge of the undercover sting operation. The event organizers said: “we work closely with a variety of law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.” (per NBC News).
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