Authorities rescued three juveniles in California who were victims of human trafficking, including a 14-year-old who is pregnant, according to a press release from the Pomona Police Department posted Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in the San Gabriel Valley conducted a four-day operation to find victims from April 19 to April 23.
Authorities noticed two females who appeared to be “very young” engage with men who were sitting in vehicles on April 19. Task Force agents then made contact with both of the juveniles. One was identified as a 14-year-old girl who had been reported missing and was six month pregnant, according to police. The other girl was identified as a 16-year-old.
Multi-Day Operation by Human Trafficking Task Force Leads to the Recovery of Three Minors & Multiple Arrests https://t.co/LM1oh1Nd13
— Pomona PD (@PomonaPD) April 27, 2021
A third juvenile, age 17, was also rescued. One victim told authorities she had been a prostitute since she was 12 years old.
All three girls had been reported missing from cities outside of Pomona, according to police. (RELATED: ‘Captain Save-A-Hoe,’ 3 Others Charged With Sex Trafficking Minors, DOJ Says)
Throughout the rest of the week, agents conducted more operations along Holt Avenue. Authorities arrested seven females and four males for commercial sex trafficking-related crimes, according to police. Of the seven females arrested, five accepted services from victim advocates, according to police.
Police warned some of the victims could return to sex trafficking “either voluntarily or by force, fraud or coercion.”