Westchester County

Prosecutors: 19 Charged With Sex Trafficking Young Girls

Prosecutors say the defendants recruited at least 15 underage girls who were in the child welfare system for prostitution

What to Know

  • Nineteen people have been charged in connection with the sex trafficking of more than a dozen girls and women
  • Prosecutors say the defendants recruited at least 15 underage girls who were in the child welfare system for prostitution
  • Some of the girls involved were as young as 13, prosecutors said. The alleged trafficking took place between 2010 and 2018

Nineteen people have been charged in connection with the sex trafficking of more than a dozen girls and women, some of whom were as young as 13 years old, prosecutors said.

Authorities on Wednesday arrested eight people in connection with the trafficking, the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said. Eighth of the other defendants were previously charged, two were already in custody on unrelated charges, and one defendant is still at large, according to prosecutors.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan says the individuals arrested yesterday appeared in federal court in Manhattan Wednesday and all were detained.

Prosecutors say the defendants recruited at least 15 underage girls who were in the child welfare system for prostitution. At least nine of the girls lived at a facility in Westchester County that provides housing to at-risk children, according to prosecutors.

Some of the girls involved were as young as 13, prosecutors said. The alleged trafficking took place between 2010 and 2018.

“Sex traffickers routinely prey on young people and those in our communities who are the most defenseless,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney Jr. said in a statement.

“As alleged, the defendants targeted vulnerable women and girls, including residents of a facility for at-risk children and adolescents, knowing that the victims would be more susceptible to their claims,” he added.

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