Comments

1
Why is this only an annual operation?
2
Soooo so many comments, each more disgraceful than the last. Not a funny topic, though, so I prudently defer.

I hope the teen pros get whatever support they were needing, now that they've been redirected toward independent contractor status.
3
Ugh.
4

Washington's age of consent is 16 compared with California's 18.

So "toeing the line" in CA would be 17, and 14/15 in WA.

6
I thought prostitution was a victimless crime.
7
So why were so few pimps, proportionately, nabbed here? One-third of teenage girls rescued, but less than one-tenth of the total pimps arrested.
8
On the right-hand side of the slog page, after reading this post, I saw an ad for "Little Darlings," an "intimate gentleman's club."

Awe. Some.
9
5, I'd love to see a racial and ethnic breakdown of who's being pimped. SE Asia is pretty well known for underage prostitution so I'd guess we get alot from there, as well as Eastern Europe.
10
@8 I know! It's like reading an article about an asian sweatshop and then seeing an ad for Boeing.
11
@1 Agreed, wtf is up with that? Fall is child prostitute season, but the rest of the year you let the herd recover?
12
So Cienna, did you decide to disregard the last half of the article or what?
From the article you cite:

"It's not that Seattle has a greater concentration of juvenile prostitutes than say, Las Vegas or Los Angeles, Sano said. Instead, he pointed out that the department's vice and high-risk victims unit has long focused its attention on children forced into the sex trade and victims of foreign trafficking....

"It's not that we have a bigger problem, but we know how to do this so well," Sano said. "We are good at spotting the juveniles, which is why we get the higher numbers.""
13
@1, @11, they started it to call attention, get local law enforcement officials around the country focused on it and establish coordinating ties between social services and criminal justice agencies. The annual push is meant to keep child prostitution on every agency's radar all the time.
14
Let me get this straight, Slog/Stranger is pro-prostitution and pro-teenage sex but against teenage prostitution?

BTW, majority of the cases involved blacks. Doesn't seem we have a underage sex problem but, yet again, a black crime problem.
15
#14

You have to understand the SLOG Ethic to post here and not go nutz.

For example, it's okay to take drugs in a public place with teenagers like at Hempfest because those drugs are also used to make bracelets. Also, bonus points if the people are white while taking drugs and riding bicycles naked with their same sex domestic partner.

However, if a 48 year old man makes a comment about a 25 year old woman, he is to be arrested for perversion.

And don't make fun of knive carrying woodcavers who pretend to be deaf.

It's verbotten.

16
As an employee of one of the (unnamed) "protective custody" locations that is currently providing housing and other services for some of these youth and others like them, and an active researcher in this field, I can tell you this:

-Seattle and the PNW are major hotspots of child prostitution, though other cities also have substantial problems.

-We have very dedicated and well-coordinated law enforncement response. I'm not always a fan of law enforcement, but ever once in a while they get their shit together and accomplish much on behave of victims.

-Nearly 100% of the youth recovered (in Seattle and else where) are American citizens, with most of them being either Caucasian or African-American.

-The age of consent (16 in WA) does not apply when money is exchanged or force is involved. Even if a 17 year old says s/he "wanted" to sell sex, legally they are not allowed to consent to selling their bodies and are considered a victim. Only an adult can consent to the selling of their body.

-It is not only girls who are victims. Males, queer, and transgendered youth are often victims as well. However, due to several factors--minimal pimp control, greater personal agency, social stigma, etc--law enforcement are less likely to pursue and/or acknowledge these victims.
17
#16

Yes, very true...it also does not apply when the person getting the sex is in a position of authority over the minor, or when the relationship is for sexual purposes only.

I was merely pointing out that the difference in ages of consent between CA and WA would be a reason for the disparity in teen prostitution.

Just a mathematical guess is all.

18
@13 Thanks, gus!
19
6: I thought prostitution was a victimless crime.

For adults, who are presumed mature enough to consent to have sex for money. I don't think there are any prostitution legalization/decriminalization advocates who claim that child prostitution is a victimless crime.

If two adults consent to have sex for money, it shouldn't be any of the state's business.
20
@16
You raise a very good point. You always hear about the young girls that are being abused and forced into prostitution. But as you pointed out, it can and does happen to boys as well. It just seems the authorities focus solely upon the female victims while turning a blind eye to the abuse of gay victims.
22
Whoops, looks like Slog forgot to mention that most of the pimps were...ummmm.......errrr.........of  'African descent'. Not relevant of course, never is. But not a 'Puget Sound' problem, just a problem with a small and very specific group of people living here.

So when will the NAACP come out and condemn the enslavement of their people by fellow Africans again?

So let's all put on cowboy boots and hats and have a hoedown! After me: a one, a two, and a one, two, three.....

I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar outta me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfuckin' P.I.M.P.

Now shorty, she in the club, she dancin' for dollars
She got a thing for that Gucci, that Fendi, that Prada
That BCBG, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana
She's feeding fools fantasies, they pay her cause they want her
I spit a little G man and my game got her
A hour later have that ass up in the Ramada

Them trick niggaz in they ear sayin' they think about her
I got the bitch by the bar tryin' to get a drink up out her
She like my style, she like my smile, she like the way I talk
She from the country, she like me cause I'm from New York
I ain't that nigga trying to holla cause I want some head
I'm that nigga tryin' to holla cause I want some bread

I could care less how she perform when she in the bed
Bitch hit the track, catch a date, and come pay the kid
Look baby, this is simple you can't see
You fuckin' with me you fuckin' with a P.I.M.P.
23
@8 & @10:
What's your point? Little Darlings doesn't hire underage women or prostitutes.
24
Well, duh! Just take a look at the Seattle Times discussions for a list of the usual suspects. They are the ones who sound like self-righteous blowhards, prancing and preening, leaving their their right wing comments like dung heaps, for all and sundry to see, feel and taste.
25
I don't believe it for a minute. If there were a real child prostitution problem in Seattle I would have read about it in The Stranger.
26
@15: Oh, you!
@22: Oh, you!
27
@19

So 18, 19, and 20 year old girls are never coerced into prostitution? They are all consenting adults?

Thanks for clearing that up.
28
@1: They do this to get some headlines and keep the issue in front of the public, which is a good thing. A lot of people have no idea how prevalent human trafficking is in this country, nevermind in other countries.

It doesn't mean there's no enforcement the other 364 days of the year. I assume you know that.
29
Cienna: From your comments it's pretty obvious you didn't read the whole story. Shouldn't that be a prerequisite for being a blogger for a (semi-)professional publication: actually reading the story you're commenting on?
30
Dan must be so proud.

Child Prostitution is a hallmark of a Gommorah Society....
31
@30: People MIGHT take you more seriously if you could, for once, spell "Gomorrah" properly. It's with a single m, double r.
32
31 yum yum

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