State officials see huge jump in sex trafficking cases
By The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ Rhode Island law enforcement officials have seen a huge jump in sex trafficking charges filed over the past year as they have begun working with federal agencies and local victim advocacy groups to target the perpetrators _ and help the underage victims _ in a trend they say is incredibly troubling.
U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says state and local law enforcement officials recently decided to ramp up their investigations into suspected sex trafficking operations.
He says they suspected the handful of cases they were seeing each year were not isolated incidents.
Neronha says the results of their investigations have been “startling.”
He says his office is meeting about human trafficking cases or issues several times a week.
The head of sex assault victim advocacy group Day One says her organization has pulled together a sex trafficking task force to combat the problem.
© The Associated Press / WLNE-TV 2015
