Waikiki, United States
At least two underage girls from Hawaii were among those recruited for a prostitution ring that shuffled victims between Honolulu and Detroit for nearly two years and advertised "escort services" on the Internet, federal authorities said yesterday. Four Detroit men were charged in connection with the scheme -- one of four prostitution rings nationwide under investigation since 2003 as part of a federal program aimed at ending human trafficking and child prostitution in the United States. The arrests of 19 people in Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in connection with the rings were announced yesterday at a Washington, D.C., news conference. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said more than 30 children -- some as young as 12 -- had been forced to have sex. All of the victims were American nationals, and some had been reported missing or had run away because they had been abused at home.
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