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14 more kid prostitutes found
25/11/2004 17:07 - (SA)
JOhannesburg - A child prostitution and trafficking task team has rescued another 14 under-age prostitutes from the streets of Johannesburg, police said on Thursday.
This brings to 28 the number of children and young adults rescued in the past month, said superintendent André Neethling. The team has made 67 arrests so far.
The 14 teenagers - aged between 13 and 16 - were taken off the streets in mobile roadblocks between End and Mooi streets in central Johannesburg and Rosettenville on Wednesday night, he said.
Of the children, all except one were South African nationals, said Neethling.
A 13-year-old girl, the youngest among them, was from Lesotho, he said.
Quiet and reserved when she was found, she had not yet been able to tell police exactly how she landed up fending for herself on the streets of Johannesburg.
She was thought to have run away from home and has been taken to a children's shelter.
Many admitted to smoking dagga
As each child needed to be managed in his or her own, unique way, some were placed in rehabilitation facilities and others in shelters and places of safety, said Neethling.
None of the children found on Wednesday night was "visibly" under the influence of drugs, although many had admitted to using dagga.
They all claimed to have been working for themselves, he said.
Police were still trying to establish whether they had been reported missing, although this was mainly done in the case of young adults.
Task team members also had questioned drivers and searched their cars during the roadblocks, Neethling added.
However, he emphasised that this did not necessarily mean everyone pulled off the road was after sexual services.
He believed this action had discouraged a lot of potential customers.
"All we are trying to do is make a financial dent in the sex trade," he said.
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