Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Terrorized Children As Young As 13; More Than 50 Women And Teenagers Rescued By FBI During Sports Event

Around 50 women, at least 16 of them are teenagers, were rescued by the FBI from prostitution at the heights of the Super Bowl on Sunday. The operation, according to the authorities, was conducted through a thorough two-week preparation after receiving reports that the football championship is being used by syndicates as a sex haven. Police have also arrested at least 45 pimps caught in the act doing sex trafficking-related transactions. Teenagers were retrieved after their parents reported that they were missing already for several days.

"The FBI and its partners remain committed to the identification and rescue of minor victims, and to hold accountable those who exploit children for financial gain," said Aaron Ford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark field office.

Ford added that these teens were from nearby cities and were forced to travel to New York City to be sold to pimps.

The operation team consisted of more than 50 law enforcement agencies and was set up weeks before the sports event. Actions were taken by the authorities after a human rights group campaign to have the Super Bowl checked because it is the time that sex trafficking rates go higher.

"The Super Bowl is the greatest show on Earth, but it also has an ugly underbelly," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told USA Today in 2011 when his state was gearing up to host the event. "It's commonly known as the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States."

"It's not so much that you become a victim at the Super Bowl, but that many victims are brought in to be used for all the men at the Super Bowl," Stephanie Kilper, a representative for Operation Freedom Taskforce in Akron, Ohio -- an organization which aims to end to human trafficking -- told newsnet5.com

Tags
Super Bowl
sex trafficking
prostitution
new jersey
teenagers
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
Peyton Manning
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