This year, the real heroes at San Diego Comic-Con were law enforcement officers!
Last weekend, comic buffs and cosplayers gathered for one of the world’s largest celebrations of comic books, movies, and TV — but amid all the fun and fandom, there was an evil force lurking within. According to the California Department of Justice and Attorney General Rob Bunta, 14 arrests were made at the convention in relation to SEX TRAFFICKING!
Holy s**t!
Rob explained in a statement released on Tuesday:
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”
That is SO scary! Thank goodness the arrests were made!
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San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl revealed 10 victims were rescued — one of which was a minor — a 16-year-old girl! He said:
“Working together, teams identified and arrested more than a dozen individuals participating in these illegal acts in our City over the weekend. This successful operation recovered 10 victims of human trafficking, including a girl of just 16 years old. These results show our collective dedication to combatting human trafficking and holding criminals accountable are working.”
Thank GOODNESS for their swift action!
According to the release, law enforcement officers “posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to arrest sex buyers.” San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez added:
“There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking. The coercion and violence which enslaves people for profit and places them into forced labor or sex is criminal. As the Sheriff I support the efforts of all our justice partners in holding perpetrators accountable. I appreciate the focus that was placed on the recent convention to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.”
Just insane!
An organizer for Comic-Con has since addressed the situation in a statement:
“Obviously we find this very disturbing and, while we were not made aware of this operation, it is our understanding that the arrests were made outside of the event. We work closely with a variety of law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”
You can view more details (below):
What a scary situation… But thanks to all the involved legal agencies, including the above and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and Child Welfare Services, lives were saved!
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources
[Images via MEGA/WENN.]
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