FBI, Local Agencies Target Child Sex Trafficking in Weekend Sting: Operation Cross Country V

The FBI, working with more than a dozen other local and federal agencies in the Portland/Vancouver metro area, recovered three girls who were being victimized through child sex trafficking during a series of sting operations that ran Thursday through Saturday nights. In addition, local police charged nine people as “pimps,” 19 adults with prostitution, and five others with related crimes (such as “johns”).

The FBI coordinated these stings as part of Operation Cross Country V—the fifth such national law enforcement action under the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative. Nationwide, this operation recovered 69 children, and it included enforcement actions involving more than 2,100 local, state, and federal officers representing 186 separate agencies in 40 cities across the United States. Locally, the FBI would like to thank the following agencies and departments for taking part in the law enforcement portion of the sting:

· Portland Police Bureau

· Gresham Police Department

· Vancouver Police Department

· Beaverton Police Department

· Tigard Police Department

· Clark County Sheriff’s Office

· Washington Department of Corrections

· U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

· U.S. Marshals Service

· Internal Revenue Service

· Metro Gang Task Force

· Innocence Lost Task Force

Task Force operations, such as this one, usually begin as local actions, targeting such places as truck stops, casinos, street “tracks,” and Internet websites, based on intelligence gathered by officers working in their respective jurisdictions. (We will not release the specific locations or methods utilized in this local operation due to ongoing investigative interests.) As is the case in the Portland/Vancouver area, initial arrests are often violations of local and state laws related to prostitution or solicitation. Information gleaned from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states. As the FBI is able to develop this information into a broader criminal investigation, it works with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to file federal charges where appropriate at a later time.

Child victims of sex trafficking recovered through this weekend’s operation were assessed for and, as appropriate, referred to services for counseling, mental health services, medical assistance, housing, and advocacy. Social service and non-profit agencies who provided assistance during Operation Cross Country V locally include:

· Clark County Department of Children and Family Services

· Clark County Juvenile Probation

· LifeWorks Northwest

· Multnomah County Department of Human Services

· Multnomah County Department of Community Justice

· Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office

· Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office

· Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force

· Portland Police Bureau

· Sexual Assault Resource Center

· Washington County Crisis Team

· Washington County Department of Human Services

· Washington County Juvenile Probation

· Washington County Mental Health

· YWCA – Vancouver

The FBI would like to thank all law enforcement and social service provider agencies for taking part in Operation Cross Country V and for their ongoing work under the Innocence Lost National Initiative.

The charges filed in this operation are merely accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.