In the early 00’s, there were no reliable statistics on the number of prostituted children. In Georgia in 2000, children were being arrested and jailed for child prostitution yet the men selling them or abusing them were rarely arrested.
Unlike adults, these children did not come into the criminal justice system for prostitution but rather for other charges, such as running away. Juvenile judges were often the first to identify them as sexually exploited minors.
To uncover the hidden problem, CNN conducted a survey of juvenile judges to identify how likely they were faced with these cases. The survey suggested that almost one in three of the juvenile judges surveyed said they had seen an increase in the past five years. Discover more on CNN.