An investigation into a sex trafficking ring at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con Convention has led to 14 arrests and 10 victims “recovered,” California’s Attorney General said Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” Rob Bonta said toady, announcing the sting at the just-concluded convention. Along with the apprehension of more than a dozen alleged sex buyers, among the 10 victims was a 16-year-old who law enforcement “recovered.”
“These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated,” the California AG said of the sting that took place from July 25-27. “We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”
Deadline has reached out to SDCC for comment on the sting, arrests and victims. If and when we hear from organizers, we will update this post.
There were more than 100,000 attendees at this year’s Comic-Con, with giant Marvel, Star Trek and Walking Dead panels highlighting the July 25-28 event at San Diego’s sprawling convention center.
“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con – highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,” Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge for HSI San Diego, said Wednesday. “However, when people use these events as an opportunity to prey upon minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you before a court of law to face criminal charges. There is no place for alleged predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes.”
According to law enforcement, the San Diego task force consists of the Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, National City Police Department, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Probation Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service also participated in the sting.