September 2014 – During Operation Cross Country VIII, a week-long law enforcement action in June, 168 children were rescued from commercial sex trafficking in 106 U.S. cities across 54 FBI field divisions. Among cities where 10 or more children were recovered were Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and Los Angeles.
Operation Cross Country is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative established by the FBI in 2003, and has since recovered 3,600 victims of child prostitution.
John Ryan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a partner of the FBI in the effort, said, “Operation Cross Country reveals that children are being targeted and sold for sex in America every day.”
