LOS ANGELES –Today, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto joined United States Attorney Martin Estrada, Mayor Karen Bass, LAPD Chief Dominic Choi and justice partners to discuss an ongoing and significant collaboration aimed at disrupting human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children on the Figueroa corridor in South Los Angeles. Partners included in this Figueroa Human Trafficking Initiative include Council President Pro-Tempore Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
Central to the success of this ongoing effort is the participation of federal and local law enforcement partners who are working together to target human traffickers and those who perpetuate illegal sex work, especially of minors.
The goals of this initiative include:
Helping human trafficking victims, particularly children,
Disrupting the johns and the demand along the “kiddie stroll,”
Stopping the illegal activity in complicit motels and other crime magnets through the use of civil enforcement actions; and
Holding predators and profiteers accountable.
“We are so proud of this unprecedented strategic collaboration, with all of our justice partners leveraging their resources. We have made tremendous progress in our efforts to combat the human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors that has plagued the Figueroa Corridor for far too long,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “By disrupting the illegal activity and the businesses that have harbored it and with our U.S. Attorney taking the lead on federal felony prosecutions, we are declaring loud and clear that our children are not for sale, and our community will not be a hub for sex trafficking of minors.”
“The Figueroa Corridor area is ground zero for human trafficking and victims are abused and exploited there every day,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “With this initiative, we are combining federal and local resources to focus on prosecuting more cases federally, particularly those involving victims who are children, and coordinating with our local partners to hold perpetrators accountable. It is imperative that we take an all-hands approach to stop the human trafficking happening right in our backyard.”
“Often, people think of human trafficking as something that happens only in other countries, but it happens in our own City,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “This is an issue that community leaders and former foster youth have been working to fight back against for decades and today’s announcement continues a commitment to protecting children, many of whom have spent time in the child welfare system, and hold traffickers and abusers accountable. I thank our law enforcement partners, especially the hardworking officers of LAPD’s 77th Division, for their continued work on this important issue.”
“From the local to the federal level, we're united and using every tool to end trafficking on Figueroa,” said Council President Pro-Tempore Marqueece Harris-Dawson. “There is an amplified energy to this mission from elected officials, City and federal agencies, and, most of all, the commitment on the ground from outreach workers, organizations, and families. Together, we will root out the systems that have exploited children in South LA for decades.”
“Our women, youth and communities deserve better, and this is just the beginning of our focused multi agency effort to stop human trafficking along the Figueroa Corridor,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi. “I am grateful to our federal, state and local partners who have come together with the same vision and tenacity on this topic.”
Feldstein Soto has made protecting children a cornerstone of her work on public safety from day one of assuming office. In addition to addressing the sex trafficking and exploitation of minors along the Figueroa corridor in South LA, and expanding this initiative in other parts of the city, she has worked with the California State Legislature to introduce a number of measures to strengthen laws related to child prostitution, the sex offender registry and sex offenses involving minors.
Any member of the public with information related to child sex crimes is encouraged to call the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at 310-477-6565 or report tips online at https://tips.fbi.gov.
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Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including more than 500 attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.