168 Trafficked Children Rescued in June

In a single week in June, during a sting to rescue child sex-trafficking victims, 168 juveniles were recovered by FBI agents and local law enforcement. Some were as young as 11 and were pulled from hotel rooms, truck stops, and homes. According to authorities, many of the children were not even reported missing in the first place. According to experts, a patchwork of state and federal polices has led to a situation in which authorities aren’t always notified if children disappear from the child-welfare system. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 57,000 missing-child reports have been received between 2009 and 2013, and two-thirds of those reported missing last year were likely sex-trafficking victims.