Quick hit: Child prostitution ring busted, picks up over 600 people.

Wow. The FBI rounded up 600 adults and rescued 47 children in 29 different cities for sex trafficking of minors.

“Sex trafficking of children remains one of our most violent and unconscionable crimes in this country,” Pistole said.
The 47 rescued children ranged in age from 13 to 17, and all but one are female. Of these, Pistole said, 10 had been reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Child prostitution has taken on a new urgency in recent years with the growth of online networks where pimps advertise the youngsters to clients. The FBI generally gets involved in child prostitution cases that cross state lines.
A University of Pennsylvania study estimated that nearly 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial purposes.

Those are staggering statistics. There is no other demographic data on the youth, but I do wonder what impact the declining economy has had on this issue.
via AP.