The FBI Denver’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force joined with some 40 agencies across the Front Range Aug. 4-6 in Operation Cross Country, a national, intelligence-driven FBI initiative focused on identifying and locating child victims of sex trafficking. The operation also investigates and arrests individuals and criminal enterprises involved in the sex trafficking of both children and adults.

In Denver, the permanent task force includes detailees from the Denver Police Department, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, and the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. They were joined by state and local agencies, the U.S. Marshals Service, and victim advocacy groups.

During this operation, the FBI Denver Field Office and our partners recovered and provided services to 11 child victims of sexual exploitation.  In addition, 27 missing or endangered children were located, and they were offered services. Eleven adult victims were recovered. Six traffickers were identified and two were arrested on unrelated felony warrants.

The Denver Field Office located more victims than any other field office in the country, and we were tied for first in the number of subjects identified or arrested.

“No person, let alone a child, should ever be exploited as an item for sale. Child sex traffickers often prey upon our community’s most vulnerable minors—runaways, foster kids, and victims of abuse. The traffickers promise their young victims they will receive care and support when that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider. “FBI Denver’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force will continue to do everything it can to ensure children recovered from this kind of exploitation receive the services they need to move forward with their lives.”

Since the inception of the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in 2012, approximately 700 minors have been recovered. The task force receives between 40 and 50 tips every month from sources including state and national hotlines and our community partnerships.

Examples seen during the 2022 Operation Cross Country in Colorado:

• Upon recovery of one minor, Narcan was administered following fentanyl use, and her life was saved.
• A 3-month-old baby was recovered in a vehicle with a trafficker, while an adult victim was encountered.
• A missing teen was located. Hours after contact, the teen witnessed a fatal crash involving her friends and was provided with trauma/grief counseling from the victim advocates.

These are the 2022 participants in Operation Cross Country:

• 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office
• 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office
• 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office
• Adams County Department of Human Services
• Adams County Sheriff’s Office
• Arapahoe County Department of Human Services
• Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
• Aurora Police Department
• Boulder County Sheriff’s Office
• Boulder Police Department
• Brighton Police Department
• Broomfield Police Department
• Castle Rock Police Department
• Colorado Bureau of Investigation
• Colorado Division of Parole
• Colorado Springs Police Department
• Colorado State Patrol
• Commerce City Police Department
• Denver County Department of Human Services
• Denver Police Department
• Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
• Englewood Police Department
• Federal Heights Police Department
• From Silenced to Saved
• Golden Police Department
• Greeley Police Department
• Greenwood Village Police Department
• Jefferson County Department of Human Services
• Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
• Lakewood Police Department
• Lone Tree Police Department
• Longmont Police Department
• Northglenn Police Department
• Parker Police Department
• Routt County Sheriff’s Office
• Thornton Police Department
• U.S. Marshals Service
• Victim Outreach Inc.
• Weld County Sheriff’s Office
• Westminster Police Department
• Wheat Ridge Police Department