FBI busts child prostitution rings; Las Vegas teen rescued
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 | 4:34 p.m.
FBI agents and Metro Police vice squad officers over the weekend arrested 49 people and rescued a 17-year-old Las Vegas girl while busting child prostitution rings.
In all, 600 people were arrested nationwide and 47 children were rescued under an ongoing undercover investigation dubbed Operation Cross Country 2.
Arrests occurred in 29 cities, including Las Vegas and Reno. Metro Police in Las Vegas and University of Nevada-Reno officers were involved.
Sgt. Vic Vigna, head of the Metro Police vice squad, said Las Vegas arrests involved the Internet, hotels, motels, escort services, truck stops and casinos.
Of the local arrests, 47 were adults arrested on prostitution charges, one adult was charged with pandering and one was charged with pandering and living from the earnings of a prostitute, Vigna said.
While federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the weekend arrests, Vigna said local officers have rescued 124 juveniles from prostitution activities for the year to date. In October alone, 19 juveniles were rescued, including the one in Operation Cross Country 2.
In Reno, two children were rescued and seven people were arrested.
An earlier operation in June resulted in hundreds of arrests.
FBI officials in a Washington, D.C., news conference said the latest operation shut down a dozen large prostitution rings operated at out-call services, truck stops, casinos and Web sites.
Discussion: 4 comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.
Post a comment
Spotlight
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas to close in May
- Pricey land buy on Strip a bit of a surprise
- Engineering marvel taking shape near Hoover Dam
- Harry Reid’s co-writer unloads while discussing polls, Obama quote
- Grim numbers show Nevada leads nation in suicides over 60
- Police: Legal runner returned to home, shot husband and wife
- UNLV back in the polls: No. 23 in AP, No. 25 in ESPN/USA Today
- MGM Mirage to leave N.J. in dispute over Macau partner
- GOP should blame itself for deficit, not Democrats
- The 10 best steakhouses in Las Vegas
Blogs
Elsewhere
With aggressive push, Internet gambling again in play
The Kats Report
A very quick list of which females could replace Steven Tyler in Aerosmith (6 Comments)
A 3.5-day sprint, highlighted superflously at Flamingo with Las Vegas newcomers
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Horsford: No taxes now, but tax reform later (14 Comments)
Gibbons: Cutting the budget can help me raise money (10 Comments)
Gibbons: Lawmakers made State of State worse with taxes (5 Comments)
Ugly lawsuit between former garbage czar, ex-elected official continues in court Monday (7 Comments)
Calendar »
- 9 Tue
- 10 Wed
- 11 Thu
- 12 Fri
- 13 Sat
-
Far East Movement at Blush
Blush Boutique Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Benji Madden at Moon
Moon Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Hugh Fink at the Riviera Comedy Club
The Riviera Comedy Club
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati























Comment removed by staff.
Make adult prostitution legal and the kids might become safer.
What in the world is wrong with the human race - adults too lazy to work who choose, instead, to make a lviing off of prostituting young children, and shame on the men who buy the 'services'. We certainly have become a very sick, depraved society.