MURRIETA – On Wednesday July 15th, members of the Murieta Police Department Police Department Special Enforcement Team (SET) , in partnership with the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce conducted a proactive enofrcement operation that targeted online prostitution and those whose demand for these unlawful activities fuels an illicit underground economy, both locally as well as across the state of California.
As a result of the enforcement effort, a total of thirteen men and two women were arrested on misdemeanor prostitution charges.
Prostituion is not a “victimless” crime. Ninety-five percent of sex trafficking victims are women or children. Those victimized by commercial sexual exploitation frequentky have ong histories of emotional, physical, and/or sexual trauma in their backgrounds.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported are likely victims of sex trafficking.
Sex trafficking victims are often subjected not only to severe forms of emtional, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their trafficker but are also frequently physically and sexually assaulted by those that solicit them for prostitution.
Through these protective enforcement operations, the Murieta Police Department is working hard to reduce future demand for sex trafficking by iodentifying and arresting sex buyers.
