Florida Probes ‘Branding’ of Sex-Trafficking Victims

A human-trafficking ring in Florida is branding the bodies of women and girls who are used for prostitution.

A major bust began in May, netting 92 arrests, among them a 15-year-old girl.

Officials learned she was part of a trafficking ring that was bringing women into counties throughout Florida to sell their bodies.

The Polk County sheriff said he was outraged when he saw markings on the girl that showed she was being treated like a slave.

“In the year 2013, we are tattooing—branding—children, and people are using them as consumable merchandise, and they simply throw them away,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.

The Florida attorney general is pursuing this multicounty investigation into human trafficking.