Toledo - Recruiting Hub for Teen Prostitutes

(Toledo, Ohio) Police and social service workers are stunned.

From ToledoBlade.com:

[A] two-year U.S. Justice Department probe of underage prostitution revealed a nationwide problem of such magnitude that it took many police and social-service agencies by surprise.

"Innocence Lost," the cooperative investigation by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies so far has saved 200 minors from the sex trade and led to more than 500 arrests.

The federal probe also revealed a "loose confederacy" of Toledo men who, according to investigators, have recruited local girls as young as 12 years old - shuttling them across the country and forcing them into the sex trade.

The perpetrators are alleged to have lured young girls in troubled circumstances into running away with promises of glamour and travel. Once taken, the girls were forced into prostitution at locations throughout the U.S.

It would be nice to know how long the "loose confederacy" was operating and how many of the girls disappeared, never to be heard from again. I personally think that the dismal circumstances of some foster care programs are at least partially responsible for the teen girls being easily lured away.

Companion at The Jawa Report.