Bloomfield Cops Help FBI Find, ID Sex Trafficking Victims

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies in New Jersey recently helped the FBI to identify or find several adolescent victims during a nationwide sex trafficking crackdown.

The FBI’s Newark office announced the results of 2022’s Operation Cross County on Monday. Across the nation, the FBI, working with its state and local partners during two weeks in August, identified and located 84 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses and located 37 actively missing children.

The average age of victims located during this year’s Operation Cross Country was 15.5, while the youngest victim discovered was 11-years-old, authorities said.

Locally, FBI agents from the Newark Division worked with law enforcement partners from the Bloomfield Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Newark Police Department, the Jersey City Police Department, the Morris Township Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office during operations that ran from August 4 to 7, as well as August 11 to 14.

As part of Operation Cross Country XII, FBI special agents, intelligence analysts, victim specialists, and child adolescent forensic interviewers worked in partnership with more than 200 state, local and federal partners and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children conducted 391 operations over the two-week period.

The local efforts paid off in New Jersey, where five adolescent victims were found or identified, authorities reported.

According to the FBI, the operation didn’t only help children. Working with its partners, the agency also located 141 adult victims of human trafficking across the nation.

In total, agents and investigators identified or arrested 85 suspects with child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses during the nationwide sweep. Those suspects identified will be subject to additional investigation for potential charges, authorities said.

Authorities said that New Jersey victims of trafficking activities or anyone with information can contact their local police department or the Newark Field Office at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Bloomfield Facebook page.