In a law enforcement anti-trafficking effort in Riverside County, 37 missing children between the ages of 14 and 17 have been found in a weeklong “recovery operation”, authorities announced.
Some were victims of crimes including child sex trafficking and sexual assault, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
The sheriff’s department, along with the California Attorney General’s office, various police agencies, federal law enforcement agencies and victim advocacy and community groups, worked to find the children, provide victim advocacy services, medical support if needed and follow-up resources before reuniting them with a legal guardian, the department said.
The operation, which included the Riverside County Sheriff’s Anti-Human-Trafficking Task Force and the United States Marshals Service, focused on children that have been missing for one month to two years, according to the sheriff’s department.
“Operation Safe Return focused on locating the most at-risk missing children by investigating cases entered into the law enforcement database known as the National Crime Information Center,” according to the California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
More than 50 children were identified as missing during the operation, and the 37 that were found were located in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange Counties, as well as northern California, Arizona and Nevada, the sheriff’s department said.
Seven arrests were made, including one arrest described as “ significant federal arrest connected to child sex trafficking” by the U.S. Marshals Service.
“The primary mission of Operation Safe Return is to recover and safely locate critically missing children—defined by the [Marshals] as those at heightened risk of violence or serious threats, including substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and exposure to crime or domestic violence,” according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.