SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A man arrested in San Diego during a nationwide sex trafficking sting has been charged by federal prosecutors with trafficking a 15- year-old girl.
On Tuesday, the San Diego division of the FBI reported that its agents located at least 17 potential human trafficking victims, one under the age of 18, during a nationwide initiative to find victims.
As part of Operation Cross County, FBI agents worked in conjunction with specialists, as well as state and local partners, to identify and locate victims and arrest people involved with sex trafficking in the first two weeks of August, according to the FBI.
Undercover agents found photos of the "young looking female" on a website advertising prostitution, according a probable cause statement filed in court.
Officers called the phone number on the online ad and the girl answered. On August 10, when the teen showed up at a Mission Valley hotel room set up by undercover officers, agents arrested the man who drove her to the location.
Wesley Allen Neely was charged with one count of sex trafficking of children, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in downtown San Diego.
Neely was set to appear for a detention hearing on August 17. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted.
Nationwide, law enforcement operations located more than 200 victims during that time, officials said.
"We are proud to have worked alongside our law enforcement partners in our efforts against these horrific crimes," said Stacey Moy, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. "The FBI will continue to investigate all human trafficking, as we do each and every day, to ensure the victims receive the resources and assistance they need, and their traffickers are held accountable."
"I would advise parents to keep an eye on their kids. If for some reason you start seeing your child with a with either new items or money that there's no explanation for, or if they start behaving in a strange manner, hanging out with people that they won't tell you who they are, those are all indicators that there should be some concern there that that there could be trafficking activity happening," said Renee Green, a supervisory special agent in San Diego's FBI office.
Local partners involved in the effort included the San Diego, National City, Escondido and Chula Vista police departments, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, San Diego Office of Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, San Diego County Probation Department, California Department of Justice, San Diego School Police Department and San Diego County Child Welfare Services.