32 men charged with child sex trafficking in Portland, 8 suspects remain at large
Oregon authorities are asking the public for help in locating eight accused child sex buyers connected to a shocking sex trafficking case that has seen 32 men charged. Their mugshots were released Wednesday by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
The case pertains to a young female victim who was allegedly trafficked and purchased by these men for sex in Portland, Oregon, when she was between the ages of 13 and 17 years old, authorities said.
Of the 32 individuals felony charged, eight remain at large, while eight others have been convicted, according to senior deputy district attorney J.R. Ujifusa.
The names of the wanted individuals were not released alongside their mugshots. However, Ujifusa asked for the public's assistance in locating their whereabouts during a press briefing. He said the office knows their identities. It's unclear why their names were not released.
The abuse began in 2020, and Portland Police's Human Trafficking Unit launched an investigation in 2023, when the victim came forward. All of the offenses occurred in Portland, a Democrat-run city.
"The courage of this victim to come forward after significant trauma is remarkable, and we stand with her," Ujifusa said during a press conference.
Officials said more charges are to be expected.
Portland Police Sgt. Onest Robert with the Human Trafficking Unit wanted about an alarming surge of sex trafficked children in Portland.
"This is a huge problem that we're seeing," said Robert. "We did a press release back in, I believe April, where we talked about [how] we recovered six minors in a matter of six weeks, and so like they’ve been saying, this is a huge influx that we're seeing in the community and our goal is to make this stop."
He added, "I took over this position about two years ago and from the two years we’ve been working we did not encounter this much juvenile out-in-the-street versus what we saw this year and continuing, and so we are, my office and my team, we’re still going out there and still being proactive and still looking for juveniles that are working out in the street."
Anyone with information is urged to contact PPB's Human Trafficking Unit at HumanTrafficking@police.portlandoregon.gov or dial the non-emergency number at 503-823-3333.
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