Authorities found 37 missing minors, including teens who were victims of sex trafficking and sexual assault, during a weeklong law enforcement operation launched in Southern California, according to officials.
The initiative “Operation Safe Return” led by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service resulted in the rescues of 37 missing teens, ages 14 to 17, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 2 news release.
The minors were located in Riverside County and the surrounding counties, as well as in northern California, Arizona and Nevada, according to authorities.
Seven suspects were arrested in the operation, which also involved the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, and other California law enforcement agencies, the sheriff’s office said. The names of those arrested were not released by the agency.
“We will never stop fighting to protect California children and bring them home,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said of the operation in a Tuesday, March 10, news release.
“Through close collaboration between state and federal authorities, we were able to identify, locate, and safely recover 37 vulnerable children while holding those responsible for their exploitation accountable,” Bonta added. “Finding missing children and bringing them home safely is some of the most important work we can do. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to protect children, support families, and ensure every child in California is safe.”
In total, 50 minors were “identified as missing” during Operation Safe Return, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
The children who were located were provided with advocacy services, medical treatment and were returned to their legal guardians, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office said that every year, about 5,000 to 6,000 children go missing or become runaways in Riverside County, which is home to more than 2.5 million people.
Most return “home shortly after leaving,” the agency said.
“Every child deserves to be safe, protected, and given the chance to live their life free from exploitation. California will continue to stand with victims and survivors, protect our most vulnerable, and do everything in our power to bring every child home safely,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “I’m grateful to our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to locate these missing children, support survivors of trafficking, and hold those responsible for harming our kids accountable.”
If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
