More than 300 people in 16 cities have been arrested in a child sex ring bust, the FBI announced Wednesday. Twenty-one children were rescued.
Boston, Miami and San Francisco were on the list. The bust was part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which has seen more than 300 convictions and 433 children rescued since 2003.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said the children will return to their families as soon as possible.
But Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International, said kids are not always safe at home.
“We are not finding one state that has a protective place for these children that would keep them safe from the pimps or traffickers who usually get them again," she said.
Smith said there is much more work that needs to be done.
“There are over 100,000 children in the United States in the commercial sex industry," she said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Watch Linda Smith's interview with CitizenLink.
