Long Beach Men Arrested for Felony Sex Trafficking
Two Long Beach men, aged 24 and 22, have been arrested for holding two women and a 16-year-old girl captive while allegedly forcing them to work as prostitutes. The Press Telegram states that the men were arrested during a traffic stop near The Pike at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach. The arrests occurred after the women escaped and notified the authorities of their situation. The teenager was rescued from an Inglewood motel. One of the men faces nine felony counts while the other faces two. The charges include human trafficking, mayhem, kidnapping, pimping, pandering, and other sex crime charges.
According to the California State Attorney General, sex trafficking is the world’s fastest growing criminal enterprise. By some estimates, human trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year business. The United States is one of the top destinations for trafficking, and California’s Attorney General has stated that the state is “one of the nation’s top four destination states for trafficking human beings.”
Human trafficking involves the unlawful trade of people who are forced to work as prostitutes or laborers. Some trafficking victims are U.S. citizens, but the majority of trafficking victims are brought in from Mexico, Asia, and other countries.
