COMPTON (CNS) - An investigation into human trafficking in the Compton area led to three dozen arrests and the rescue of two teenage girls, authorities said today.
The operation was conducted Wednesday by members of the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce, along with deputies from Sheriff's Compton Station, said sheriff's Lt. Barry Hall.
The rescued girls, ages 16 and 17, were identified as ``commercially sexually exploited children,” Hall said in a statement.
``One of the females was released to the care of the Department of Children and Family Services and the other to the Probation Department as she had an arrest warrant from San Bernardino County,” Hall said.
Twelve women were arrested on suspicion of ``loitering for the purposes of prostitution,” and two were arrested on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution after they solicited sex for money from undercover sheriff's detectives.
Twenty men were arrested on suspicion of soliciting undercover sheriff's deputies for various sex acts, Hall said.
Rajene Robinson, 20, of Santa Clarita, was arrested on suspicion of pandering after she allegedly tried to recruit an undercover sheriff's deputy to work for her as a commercial sex worker, Hall said.
A 23-year-old Riverside man who was with Robinson was arrested on suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle and supervising a prostitute, Hall said.
The task force included personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the California Highway Patrol, and the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
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