Atlanta Cracks Down on Child Prostitution

A report published in 2005 on commercial exploitation of children in Atlanta is the base for a new approach to child prostitution in Atlanta. In coming months a “John’s School” will open in Atlanta Municipal Court. The idea is to go after johns and force them to change their behavior. They will also face possible prosecution as child molesters.

Hidden in Plain View: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Girls in Atlanta found strong correlation between areas of adult prostitution and juvenile prostitution through analysis of police data and mapping.

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Teen Prostitution

The Toledo Blade continues to report on teen prostitution in that city which has been identified by the federal government as a hub for a national teen prostitution ring .

• Teen Prostitute Found Dead Had Slipped Away Long Ago – Melissa Palmer, a key witness in the federal case against a nationwide underage sex-trade ring, died of an apparent drug overdose in late April. She was 18. She was a chronic runaway who first left home at age 11.
• Surviving in Wayne’s World - Wayne Banks, Jr. is a third-generation pimp who is serving 40 years in prison. Last year he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., to interstate sex trafficking of a 17-year-old Toledo girl, intimidating a witness, and conspiracy. Banks was part of a nationwide sex-trade ring that preyed on young girls.
• Jessica Klempner, a Young Woman Arrested for Prostitution in Florida Last Year
  Jessica named her pimp, Wayne Banks, Jr., in a Florida case. She was beaten and threatened to keep quiet, but she refuses to be intimidated.

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Targeting Juvenile Sex Rings Using Anti-Trafficking Laws

At a five-day trial in the federal courthouse in Washington, three young women described in graphic detail the life they led with their pimp and under his instruction. These activities came to light after investigations by the District’s Human Trafficking Task Force and the Department of Justice Department’s Innocence Lost initiative, separate efforts that target pimps accused of using violence and preying on girls. Innocence Lost, concentrated in 14 U.S. cities, has launched 140 investigations resulting in convictions of at least 68 pimps. The D.C. task force has initiated more than 30 investigations and has won 17 convictions.

++++++++++Teen Prostitution in Ohio and Massachusetts

Teen Prostitution in the Bay State

Boston’s NPR station reports on a December federal bust of a prostitution ring that operated from Hawaii to Massachusetts and allegedly exploited minors as young as 12-years-old and on the growth of teen prostitution in Massachusetts.

Toledo, Ohio described as a hub of teen prostitution

The Toledo Blade , in a series on the teen prostitution ring busted in December, reports on the shock Toledo experienced on discovering it is known as one of the top cities in the country for teen prostitution. Here are the articles:

31 Accused of Running Child Sex Ring – Many of the young girls ‘herded’ around the country are from Toledo –  Article published December 17 reports on one of the largest mass arrests of alleged operators of child prostitution rings in U.S. history.

Crackdown exposes Toledo as a hub of teen prostitution – Article published January 8, 2006 describing the workings of the teen prostitution ring in Toledo.

Captive teenage cousins suffer crash course in forced sex trade – Two teenage girls from Toledo describe their experiences when forced into the sex trade after they accept a ride from a stranger in a rainstorm.

Buffie Rae’s slaying leaves mom with few answers – The death of a prostitute at a truck stop outside Indianapolis is tied to the prostitution trade. The 27-year-old hooker had turned to prostitution along the interstate circuit when she was 13.

++++++++++Seattle Teens in Prostitution

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer  reports on teen girls and their pimps and on the child sex trafficking circuit of which Seattle is a major hub. A Justice Department study has placed Seattle among 12 hub cities in the United State where traffickers recruit teens for sex work and move them around the country.

While many of these young teens come from foster care settings, this is one of the few articles I’ve seen on the subject that actually discusses the vulnerability of girls from middle class schools and families to a well-dressed, fast talking, and good looking young pimp selling sex for money.

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