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Newsweek: Law-Enforcement Officials Note Marked Nationwide Increase in Teen Prostitution; Trends Show Kids Getting Younger, More from Middle-Class Homes


"Everyone Thinks They Are Runaways with Drug Problems from the Inner City... It's Not True, This Could Be Your Kid," Says Detective

NEW YORK, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the last year, local and federal law-enforcement officials say they have noted a marked increase in teen prostitution in cities across the country, reports Assistant Editor Suzanne Smalley in the August 18 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, August 11).

Law-enforcement agencies and advocacy groups that work with teen prostitutes say they are increasingly alarmed by the trend lines: the kids are getting younger; according to the FBI, the average age of a new recruit is just 13; some are as young as 9. And, while the vast majority of teen prostitutes today are runaways, illegal immigrants and children of poor urban areas, experts say a growing number now come from middle-class homes.

"Compared to three years ago, we've seen a 70 percent increase in kids are from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds, many of whom have not suffered mental, sexual or physical abuse," says Frank Barnaba of the Paul & Lisa Program, which works with the Justice Department and the FBI in tracking
exploited kids.

Child advocates are especially concerned that pimps are increasingly targeting girls at the local mall, a place many parents consider a haven for their kids to gather after school and on weekends. "Ten years ago you didn't see this happening," says Bob Flores, who heads the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "We've got kids in every major city and in suburbia all over the place being prostituted."

"Potentially good sex is a small price to pay for the freedom to spend money on what I want," says 17-year-old Stacey [not her real name], who liked to hang out after school at the Mall of America, Minnesota's vast shopping megaplex, Newsweek reports. After being approached last summer by a man who
told her how pretty she was, and asked if he could buy her some clothes, Stacey agreed and went home that night with a $250 outfit.

Stacey, who lives with her parents in an upscale neighborhood, began stripping for men in hotel rooms -- then went on to more intimate activities. She placed ads on a local telephone personals service, offering "wealthy, generous" men "an evening of fun" for $400. (The Mall of America, whose spokesman declined to comment, has an extensive security operation, and rules
requiring juveniles to have chaperones on weekend evenings. Law-enforcement officials, who praise the mall's efforts to combat the problem, nonetheless concede pimps are active there. "The Mall of America is a huge recruiting center," says FBI Special Agent Eileen Jacob.)

Child advocates are just as worried about, and puzzled by, girls like Stacey, who aren't forced into prostitution but instead appear to sell themselves for thrills, or money, or both. Richard Estes, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, says so-called designer sex is becoming more common in cities across the country.

"Everyone thinks they are runaways with drug problems from the inner city," says Andy Schmidt, a Minneapolis detective who helped bust a major Twin Cities prostitution ring. "It's not true. This could be your kid." In response, local, state and federal officials are starting to clamp down on the crime, which is still treated as a minor offense in many cities. The FBI, working with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, recently
identified 13 cities-including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis and Dallas-that have juvenile-prostitution problems.
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LINKIE

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Silvy

Damn, that shit is terrible...
I used to think 15-year olds were cute too...

But I was 15 at the time.

anyhow: I deleted many sentences from this post regarding my feelings towards these pimps... I'm too mad to post them right now...

The article raised my eyebrows on the type of girls that work in that business... I also thought that they were all being forced in some way or other.

Makes you wonder what you can do about it. Obviously they are not consenting adults but they are consenting nonetheless. Do they want to be helped?
And what does a girl think about it 10 years later? Do they still think it was okay?

btw: shoot the bastards
reminds me of the Boondock Saints "For thee, my lord for thee...."

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dragon2fire

thats sad

gov135

Is it too hard to find a part-time, after-school job these days? Or just not cool enough? Or just too much work?

I agree with Silvy that the adults involved are the scum of the earth, but don't the girls have to shoulder some responsibility here?

SiN

hm..very sad, but not surprising.

with all that we see lately regarding how young girls are being pushed into being women at younger and younger ages...mini sex-symbols...

not surprising at all. sex sells, and these girls know it.

f-d up, yes.

but look at the culture that created this...

:shrug:

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Nisses

gotta agree with SiN here.

When I was little, and I came home with something new, they would be all over me till they knew why I bought it, or what it cost, and how I got the money.

Nowadays alot of people don't bother asking, they're just happy their kids aren't bugging them after a stressful day of work.

The kids are being raised with alot at their disposal, so when they figure they've done everything worth doing, they turn to other things for thrills as well as the potention profit.
When you can combine the both, it's hard to resist for most.

And a bored or unchallenged mind will do just about anything to pass the time.

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The_Dude

i dont think this problem is as rampant in the lil east texas town that i live in.

but.....i've heard numerous stories of girls getting drunk and doing lots of guys.

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World's King

Sweet.


We all gotta make money somehow.

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bukaki22

where do i sign up?

schmuck

old mall of america slogan:

"there's a place for fun in your life-mall of america"

IckUber

Chick are cool.

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BrinlyNoya

I am honestly not suprised by this..
I don't know how many of you look at those "non-nude teen" sites but none of those girls come from poor families, they are all middle class girls selling thier faces to guys to earn an easy buck. A grizzly looking man walking up to a girl in a mall and saying he would buy her a nice new outfit if she fucked him does not suprise me, nor does the girl accepting. This country thrives on greed, that same girl could have just asked mommy and daddy, but now, she is "independent!" woo-fucking-hoo!

^dude

Thats fucked up. Parents should be more aware, i'm not blaiming it on them, but still.

catback

That's sad but can't say I didn't expect to hear it

YourNeverThere

Good one IckUber, intelligent and imformative!

Anyway, ya, to that sucks, I think its a number of things, todays social pressure to become 'adult' as soon as human possable, the fasion worlds pushing harder and harder on younger and younger girls to be sex symbols. And societies general unopeness with sexuality, they obviously find it exciting and 'devant' or rebellous and something they want to do for easy money. In someways its not these prostitots fault, but in many ways it is as well, these girls arnt being forced into it, there doing it by themselves! thats insane,

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Vyk

very sad. So many of this countries ills could be remedied by application of good parenting skills.

a2k

That really is sad. I'm with BrinlyNoya that these kids are not doing it because they are starving (maybe starving for attention). Wonder how much of this begins because of feelings of inadequacy at home.

macmanmike6100

Sex just isn't as "sacred" as it used to be. The media most definitely influences, what with the constant deluge of sex-laden shows, movies, and advertisements. Unfortunately, this is the kind of shit that contributes to the <a href="http://www.ashastd.org/stdfaqs/statistics.html">ridiculously wild spread of STDs</a> [<a href="http://www.ashastd.com/">American Social Health Association</a>] and a disappointing number of <a href="http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/TEEN-PREGNANCY/teenpreg_fact.html">teen pregnancies</a> [<a href="http://www.plannedparenthood.org">Planned Parenthood</a>].

MSD

I think it's sad that our society has become so materialistic that someone who is 17 years old will have sex with a random person to get a new outfit. With all the pressure to "be cool" and become mindless trend-following zombies, people are going to get desparate.

Nefir

A real shame that kids are forced into such a lifestyle. Its the most desperate of the desperate. There are many other ways a kid can earn money if she/he really needs it, without having to sell their body.

Its kinda sad that kids today are seeing, learning about, and doing in their teenage years things that generations ago would have waited at least another decade.

The time of innocent, care-free childhood is getting shorter and shorter...

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StormBerlin

"Stacey agreed and went home that night with a $250 outfit."

If I ever came home with something my mom knew I couldn't afford, she would be all over that wondering where I got it. The problem here is that the parents don't give a shit and would rather their 13 year old daughter spend spare time at the mall than bothering them. I wasn't even allowed to go to the mall at all at 13, let alone the Mall of America. Parents just need to pay more attention to their kids.

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YourNeverThere

Nefir, i think the point of the story is that these particular kids ARN'T forced into this buisness, thats the worst part.
StormBerlin, i agree, that is so harsh, there parents really dont care, or are so oblivous that they dont notice equaling they dont care.

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IceMan81588

That's really sad, kids should actually go through school, it's much more worthwhile.

fuzzix

How incredibly stupid. I actually think modern western society's view to sex is FAR too liberal, it's encouraging this kind of degradation and promiscuity. I find it amazing when I hear stories of 13 year olds shagging, I was playing a fucking super nintendo at 13, and I was plenty happy with that! As a few people have mentioned I think it is greed that propels these young ladies into such degrading professions, but we can't really blame them, only society.

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pangavan

It isnt just greed. Society in America starts messing with girls head about the time they are born. They are taught to compete with each other for the same guys, and if the guy doesn't pick them it because theres something wrong with them. We then sell them magazines that tell them they are too ugly, too fat, too submissive, too aggresive, or just too smart.
And before anyone blames men...all these magazines are published and run by women. women who fought hard to get the top jobs, but the only changes that have been made were to get raunchy in descibing the submissive status qou. and all these magazines agree that sex has become just another weapon in the arsenal.

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skysooner

The parents are obviously wrapped in their own lives to not even see what is going on. As a parent of small ones, I have yet to face the tougher years, but it seems from talking to friends of ours that parents fall into several camps. There are the ones that are so busy that they neglect their kids. There are the ones that are completely involved in their children's lives (to the detriment of the relationship between the husband and wife). There are the ones that maintain a good balance and separation between the marriage and the caring for the children. There are all grades of these variations. My own personal belief is that people are going to do what they do and as long as it doesn't hurt others (i.e. abuse, etc) that it is none of my business. However, in this case, the children are getting hurt. It is hard to believe that a girl who would do that would ever be able to have a successful, healthy relationship later on.

GSRIDER

Damn I remember growing up in Minnesota and first hearing about the plans for the Mall of America... I was gonna hang out there everyday. Who woulda' thunk it would be a hotbed for pimps.

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water_boy1999

This is truly a sad story, but one that I believe will only get worse over time. When I was 15, I don't even remember girls being physically built like they are now.....don't remember them dressing as provocatively as they do now. Anyone who says the way a woman dresses isn't an indication of her sexuality, has a serious brain disorder. Women know they get more attention by highering the skirt line a bit more, or showing a little more cleavage. So, to me, it is no surprise that with the media and the fashion trends these young girls are following, sure, they are certainly going to attract more attention. Now, with this new image comes the scum of the earth men who will take advantage of the situation. They see easy, young prey to offer money, clothes, etc...in return for sexual favors. These pimps have no class, no backbone, and I am sure have no qualms whatsoever about putting a 15 year old out on the street. Fucking scum!

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Sparhawk

Well, at least they aren't selling their soiled panties to be sold in vending machines, a la Nippon...

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neoinoakleys

sad...just sad...

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Buzz

After reading the story on line.. I'd have to agree, that I don't think her parents knew what she was doing?? Or so it seems.

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sta500

To all the people who say they aren't forced:

Yes, they are being forced. They're being forced by the culture they're growing up in and the pressure of 'fitting in' and becoming 'independent'. By culture, I don't mean their home situation, but the American culture as a whole. It makes me sick. Teens are so eager to grow up and become more mature and shit, yet they don't realize what they're giving up. When they're older and then have some shit job in a 6x8 cubicle, they'll be wishing they could just go run around, have fun, go on vacation, et cetera, like they could've in their youth. But, nope, they wanted to grow up and have responsibility. Kids, if you're reading this, take as much time growing up as possible. I don't really remember where I was going with this, but whatever.

antihero3zx

i think a lot of you are missing the point. This girl is 17, not 15. BIG difference.

she isnt doing it to be independant. Im SURE she still takes every penny she can squeeze out of mommy and daddy. The point it the consumer mindset of these young people.

if mommy and daddy give her enough money for old navy or maybe the gap, she will gladly sell her ass for abercrombie. If mommy and daddy pony up for the abercrombie then she will sell her ass for A|X .. soon thats not enough and shes gonna need the straight up designer shit with a louis vuitton change purse that cost 190$. The problem is that more is always better.

I mean honestly though, if i was in her posistion, and someone said you have to go to a hotel, and dance around naked and ill buy you a td05 turbo kit with stainless manifolds and external wastegates, you can better believe i would sign up.

its consumerism. Americans will do anything in order to be able to buy the shit they really dont need. never has fight club been
more dead on. the things she owns end up owning her.

i honestly think that you guys saying that she is trying to be independant are missing the mark. i dont get that feeling at all.

hobo

The girls are consenting, so it isn't that they are being hurt. They seem to be doing it for money to buy all the cool things that they want. What is bad is that SIGNIFICANTLY OLDER men are the guys that go to them. If the guys were more their age, it wouldn't be that bad. It would just be like a short term relationship where be bought her gifts and they had sex.

fuzzix

Totally disagree here, doesn't matter if they're 17 or 70 it's just as bad imo. Either way it gives these girls the message that sex is not a serious thing at all, which will no doubt fuck them up emotionally and expose them to the wrong kind of people.

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viejo gringo

It is totally the mind set---when a 15 year old girl will
go on Oprah and admitt that she will give any of her
friends a blow job, but would never consider kissing him--
she really needs some help.