An uptick in sex trafficking of children on the Internet has united Washington County prosecutors and law enforcement leaders in a vow to take the fight to perpetrators.
County Attorney Pete Orput said the coalition will take direct aim at people who exploit girls and boys for profit by coordinating various government resources, in a renewed effort to address the growing online sex trade.
"With the Internet, a lot of perps think it's risk-free, and order up a human being to be delivered like a pizza and nobody will find out. We plan to let these perpetrators know the risk has become much higher," Orput said Wednesday at a news conference attended by two dozen county and city leaders.
Orput's new special crimes prosecutor, Imran Ali, said the FBI recently identified the Twin Cities as being one of the nation's top metro areas for sex trafficking. Because of social media and other Internet functions, he said, sex trafficking has spread from Minneapolis and St. Paul into Washington County and other suburban areas.
With geographic boundaries eliminated, many more men shop for underage victims through Internet ads, he said.
"Now, they can do it from the privacy of their own homes, on their cellphones," Ali said.
The coalition includes Sheriff Bill Hutton and several police chiefs, including Lee Vague of Woodbury, Craig Woolery of Cottage Grove, John Gannaway of Stillwater and Bill Sullivan of Oakdale.
"From our perspective, this is a significant use of resources," Sullivan said. "We're going to try to give some kids a future."
