Washington Juveniles Recovered in Operation Cross Country VI

This week, three Innocence Lost Task Forces (ILTFs) in Washington state recovered juveniles and young adults being victimized through prostitution. Some of the adult victims had been forced into engaging in prostitution since they were juveniles. The local operations were part of Operation Cross Country VI, a three-day national enforcement action that is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative. Details on the national actions are in the attached FBI Headquarters press release.

In Washington state, the ILTFs recovered six juveniles and arrested seven subjects suspected of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. Operations took place June 21-23, 2012, in Auburn, Bellevue, Lakewood, Seattle, Tacoma, and throughout King County. Victims and the pimps travel throughout western Washington to work and do not necessarily reside in the area where they were located this week.

The ILTF, working together with partnering agencies, made contact with young women involved in prostitution through the use of undercover agents and detectives and by canvassing areas where street prostitution is known to occur.

All the women and girls were offered to be connected with a variety of services within the community, such as job training, housing, counseling, and medical and education assistance.



The FBI Seattle Division works with law enforcement partners on three dedicated Innocence Lost Task Forces, based in Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma.

The Seattle ILTF is a partnership between the FBI; the King County Sheriff’s Office; the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) directorate; and the Seattle, Kent, SeaTac, Port of Seattle, and Bellevue police departments.
The Everett ILTF is a partnership between the FBI; the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office; and the Everett, Lynnwood, and Mt. Vernon police departments.
The Tacoma-based Pacific Northwest ILTF is a partnership between the FBI, the Tacoma and Lakewood Police Departments, the Internal Revenue Service, and ICE-HSI.

Additional partners supplemented the work of Washington ILTF members in Operation Cross Country VI. They were personnel from the Bureau of Prisons and the Auburn, Bellingham, and Ferndale Police Departments.

ILTFs provide a rapid and effective investigative response to reported federal crimes involving the victimization of children. The task force strives to reduce the vulnerability of children to acts of sexual exploitation and abuse and strengthens the capabilities of federal, state, and local law enforcement through training programs and investigative assistance. Below are summaries of recent cases investigated by the Washington ILTFs:

Ronnie Tramble coerced or forced more than five different women to work for him as prostitutes. Some of these victims were under the age of 18. Tramble first came to the attention of Kent Police Department officers when a juvenile female told them that Tramble beat and coerced her and advertised her as a prostitute on Backpage.com. On March 16, 2012, Tramble was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 15 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the five women he forced to work as prostitutes.

D’Marco Mobley used beatings and sexual violence to force a teenager and two young women into prostitution. His violence included locking one of the women in the trunk of a car for 28 hours and subjecting her to multiple rapes during that period. On April 27, 2012, Mobley was sentenced in King County Superior Court to 37 years in prison.

The conviction of DeShawn Cashmoney Clark marked the first under Washington state’s Human Trafficking Statute. Clark was a member of the Westside Street Mobb, a violent street gang that recruited and forced teenage girls and young women into prostitution for the gang’s financial profit. On January 22, 2010, DeShawn Clark was sentenced in King County Superior Court to 17 years in prison.

http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-releases/2012/washington-juveniles-recovered-in-operation-cross-country-vi

Nearly 80 Juveniles Recovered in Nationwide Operation Targeting Underage Prostitution

Seven Pimps Arrested and Two Juveniles Recovered by San Diego Innocence Lost Task Force and Assisting Law Enforcement Agencies

Hundreds of FBI special agents partnered with thousands of local police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, and other law enforcement personnel throughout the United States this past week, arresting those responsible for exploiting underage children through prostitution. The sixth iteration of Operation Cross Country, a three-day law enforcement action, led to the recovery of 79 children. Additionally, 104 pimps were arrested by local and state law enforcement on a variety of prostitution related charges.



“Child prostitution remains a major threat to children across America,” said Kevin L. Perkins, acting executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. “It is a violent and deplorable crime, and we are working with our partners to disrupt and put behind bars individuals and members of criminal enterprises who would sexually exploit children.”

Operation Cross Country is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative that was created in 2003 by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with the Department of Justice and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), to address the growing problem of domestic child sex trafficking in the United States.

“Once again, thanks to decade-long FBI leadership, it is clear that child prostitution and sex trafficking do not just occur somewhere else on the other side of the world. These insidious crimes are occurring in American cities and the victims are American kids,” said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

To date, the 47 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered more than 2,200 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 1,017 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including eight life terms and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.



Task force operations usually begin as local enforcement actions targeting such places as truck stops, casinos, street “tracks,” and the Internet, based on intelligence gathered by officers working in their respective jurisdictions. Initial arrests are often violations of local and state laws relating to prostitution or solicitation. Information gleaned from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states. FBI agents further develop this information in partnership with U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and file federal charges where appropriate.

The Innocence Lost National Initiative brings state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers from across the country to NCMEC, where the groups train together. In addition, the Department of Justice has reinforced the training by assigning prosecutors to help bring cases in those cities where child prostitution occurs.

The FBI thanks the more than 8,500 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers and agents representing 414 separate agencies who participated in Operation Cross Country and ongoing enforcement efforts.

The San Diego Innocence Lost Task Force (SDILTF) coordinated efforts in San Diego County. The SDILTF is a multi-agency task force comprised of detectives, officers, and agents from the San Diego Police Department, Oceanside Police Department, San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Escondido Police Department, and the FBI. SDILTF investigations are prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The North County Prostitution/Human Trafficking Task Force also devoted significant resources which contributed to the success of the San Diego operation. The North County Prostitution/Human Trafficking Task Force focuses on addressing prostitution and human trafficking issues in North County region.

Other agencies involved in the San Diego operation are as follows: San Diego Harbor Police Department, Chula Vista Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The following list denotes FBI divisions—not necessarily actual cities—where juveniles were recovered and pimps arrested.

To learn more about Operation Cross Country and the Innocence Lost National Initiative, visit www.fbi.gov, www.justice.gov, or www.ncmec.org.

http://www.fbi.gov/sandiego/press-releases/2012/nearly-80-juveniles-recovered-in-nationwide-operation-targeting-underage-prostitution