Be aware of dangers of sex trafficking

Sex trafficking is more common in the United States than people really have imagined. A report of a missing teenager in Tulare County, California, in late 2016 culminated into the uncovering of one of the largest sex trafficking rings in the Western United States, according to a recent announcement by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Thirteen young women and girls, including the missing teen, were freed from captivity as a result of an extensive investigation.

Investigators in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department discovered a sizable human sex trafficking network that extended from Nevada to California. During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered that apartments were used as brothels by the ring in many public areas.

"Human trafficking, which includes sex and labor trafficking, is one of the fasting growing crimes in the world. Its reach is not limited to foreign countries," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. "In California, human trafficking is reported here in our state more than in any other."

The Los Angeles Daily News reported that since the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force was established in 2015, there have been 697 arrests, and of those, about 30 percent were male buyers. In addition, there have been 185 victims rescued, a majority of them youths who were sex trafficked.

This case probably just scratches the surface of how extensive sex trafficking is in America. Parents need to be attentive to what their children are doing online and elsewhere. Depraved predators are out there and will prey on children.

Michael Imhof

Aurora