Gangs Finding Child Prostitution a Less-Risky Alternative to Drug Sales
As authorities yesterday announced charges against nearly 700 individuals and the arrest of 60 accused pimps in a 36-city child-prostitution sweep over a three-day period, the New York Times takes a detailed look at some of the related social issues that make enforcement—and getting endangered teens off the street—difficult.
Often abused or neglected, runaways may sell their bodies to avoid going home or being sent into foster care, the newspaper reports. It discusses at length the experience of now 17-year-old Nicole Clark, who ran away at 14, bartered sex for a place to stay and was then pressured into prostitution by her boyfriend. She felt trapped into this arrangement, Clark tells the newspaper, “in a way I can’t really explain.”
Especially with older teens, the legal system traditionally has treated them as criminals rather than victims, even though older men often are involved in buying or selling the teens’ sexual services, the Times recounts. Its article is based on a two-year investigation.
The problem of child prostitution is “definitely worsening,” Boston Police Sgt. Kelley O’Connell tells the newspaper, echoing the views of law enforcement officials in dozens of cities. “Gangs used to sell drugs. Now many of them have shifted to selling girls because it’s just as lucrative but far less risky.”
A total of 52 children, including at least one 10-year-old, were rescued during a three-day child-prostitution sweep dubbed Operation Cross Country, announced yesterday by the FBI, the Associated Press reports.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Runaway and Abandoned Teens on a Rough Legal Road”
