The Denver FBI has recently located sex trafficking victims here in our own city. After what was known as Operation Cross Country, law enforcement agencies across the front range were able to locate 11 child victims, 27 missing and endangered children, and 11 adult victims.
The FBI Denver Division was able to locate more victims than any other FBI Division in the country. There were over 30 law enforcement agencies participating in this particular sex trafficking sweep.
According to Special Agent in Charge, Michael Schneider, six traffickers were identified during the operation. Two were then arrested on unrelated felony warrants.
In addition to those arrested, the nationwide operation arrested or identified 85 suspects of child exploitation and human trafficking throughout the country.
During the two week operation, the FBI was able to locate 84 victims of child exploitation and found 37 actively missing children across the US.
The average age of the children located nationwide were 11-15.5 years old. In the Denver raid, the average age of the victims was 13 years old. In addition to the child victims, the FBI in their search to locate and identify the underage victims, found 141 trafficked adults.
The Denver FBI Division used a victim-centered approach in locating the victims. This included intelligence-generating analysis on the victims, working with partners to locate victims across Colorado, and working with victim specialists and advocates to provide immediate and future services and support for the located victims.
This is some scary stuff going on in our state and across the country. There are so many evil people stalking our children and women out there. Be safe, don’t trust strangers on the internet or on the streets. And parents, please watch what your kids and teens are doing on social media and the internet in general. Now is the time to protect ourselves and catch these creeps once and for all.
A big shout out to the FBI Denver Division and all law enforcement agencies trying to crackdown on these disgusting crimes. Keep up the good work, we need you.
