A sex trafficking sting operation was conducted during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that resulted in the arrests of 14 people and the saving of 10 victims, one of whom was only 16 years old.
The anti-human trafficking operation was conducted during the pop culture and comic book convention from July 25 to 27 at the San Diego Convention Center, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Wednesday, July 31. The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force led the operation at the multi-day event, which is the biggest pop culture convention in the world and draws in around 100,000 attendees each year.
The California Department of Justice said in a statement that the sting was “aimed at recovering victims of sex trafficking and targeting sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims.”
Law enforcement disguised themselves as sex buyers and posted undercover ads soliciting sex in order to target traffickers and identify potential victims during the three-day convention. The 10 people who were recovered — nine adults and one 16-year-old girl — were offered assistive services, and Child Welfare Services agents were on scene to provide aid.
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“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” Bonta said in a statement. “These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”
“There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking,” San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez added. “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.”
“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con — highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,” Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge for HSI San Diego, said, per Variety. “However, when people use these events as an opportunity to prey upon minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you before a court of law to face criminal charges. There is no place for alleged predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes.”
Casts of some of the biggest TV shows and movies were in attendance for the slew of panels during SDCC 2024. Shows like Tracker, What We Do in the Shadows, Abbott Elementary, Interview With the Vampire, The Walking Dead universe, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Boys, Doctor Who, Ghosts, and more were all represented at the convention, as were Marvel films like Fantastic Four and the upcoming Avengers movie. Fans from around the world gathered to see their favorite casts in person and connect with other pop culture superfans.
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