Local and federal agencies have joined forces to rescue young girls being trafficked for sexual exploitation on an infamous South L.A. corridor known for prostitution.
KNX News' Karen Adams reports authorities are calling it the Figueroa Corridor Human Trafficking initiative, which U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada characterized as an all-of-government approach to addressing the ongoing problem.
Estrada says they're going after the pimps and traffickers who groom young girls, mainly pulled from the foster care system, into a life of prostitution along 'The Fig', a 3.5-mile stretch of road from Gage Avenue down to Imperial Highway.
[iframe https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d38523.631653600045!2d-118.35443290706978!3d33.99426512351154!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x80c2c83e8cffbf23%3A0xb4f571cb401a0bf0!2sSouth%20Figueroa%20Corridor%2C%20Los%20Angeles%2C%20CA!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1725482047979!5m2!1sen!2sus allowfullscreen="" height="450" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" style="border:0" width="600"]During a joint press conference on Wednesday, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said, "This is an issue that community leaders and former foster youth have been working to fight back against for decades, and today's announcement continues a commitment to protecting children, many of whom have spent time in the child welfare system, and hold traffickers and abusers accountable."
The initiative is also focusing on the 'Johns' and hotels that support the exploitation.
"By disrupting the illegal activity and the businesses that have harbored it and with our U.S. Attorney taking the lead on federal felony prosecutions, we are declaring loud and clear that our children are not for sale, and our community will not be a hub for sex trafficking of minors," Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said.
Officials say 84 young girls have been rescued from 'The Fig' this year.
Anyone with information related to child sex crimes is encouraged to call the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or report tips online at https://tips.fbi.gov.
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