Four Victims Saved From Human Trafficking

Among the Cobb agencies participating in the initiative, dubbed Operation Cross Country IX, were the Cobb County, Marietta and Smyrna police departments and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, the release states. The effort also was spearheaded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“From an investigative standpoint, Operation Cross Country targets the individuals and criminal enterprises responsible for the commercial sex trafficking of children”, said one of the victim specialists from the FBI’s Office for Victim Assistance.

More than 100 underage victims were provided with immediate subsistence aid and counseling from a team of 90 victim specialists, bolstered by the efforts of victims advocacy groups and non-governmental organizations. The youngest recovered victim was 12 years old.

Attorneys said 24-year-old Brandon McNeal was charged by a criminal complaint with sex trafficking a minor. “More than any previous year as the Federal Bureau of Investigation is able to prosecute johns under the new law passed under the human traffic law”, said Johnson.

The Innocence Lost program, which was first created in 2003, has identified and recovered approximately 4,800 sexually exploited children to date. He is the director for the Americas, Rotarians Against Child Slavery, and has pushed child and sexual slavery to the forefront of the state’s agenda.

A news release from the FBI’s Philadelphia Division said that two underage victims were recovered and two pimps were arrested in the Philadelphia area as part of the operation.

During the operation, officers went undercover to at truck stops, hotels, casinos and other areas known for prostitution activity, officials said.

Police are still investigating these cases and it’s possible the charges against these women could change if they are victims. The second part will be rehabilitative, providing support for the rescued children as they reintegrate into their families and communities.