FBI Operation Locates More Than 200 Missing/Exploited Children

From May 1 to May 24, the FBI said 231 missing and/or exploited children were located in Georgia.

ATLANTA — An operation designed to combat child exploitation and make communities safer for children heading into the summer months has produced results, according to the FBI. Through the FBI's Operation Safe Summer, or OSS, the bureau reported there were 231 missing and/or exploited children located from May 1 to May 24 in Georgia.

The end of the operation coincided with National Missing Children's Day on May 25.

The FBI Atlanta Field Office announced the results recently of OSS — a collaborative effort by 27 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies — led by the FBI's Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking (MATCH) task force.

According to the National Center for Missing Exploited Children (NCMEC):

In 2018, more than 23,500 runaways were reported to NCMEC and one in seven were likely victims of child sex trafficking.

In 2016, 11 percent of endangered runaways were believed to be involved in gangs. It is estimated as of March 2019, there were 419 missing/runaway children on the streets of the five-county Metro Atlanta region.

"Thanks to the month-long efforts of our partners, 231 children are no longer vulnerable to predators who would seek to exploit them," said Chris Hacker, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. "Operation Safe Summer is another example of the FBI's commitment to protecting our children before they become victims."

https://patch.com/georgia/dallas-hiram/fbi-operation-locates-more-200-missing-exploited-children