LA City Officials, Police Plan Crackdown On Valley Prostitution
VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles officials are launching an effort to target pimps and johns in the San Fernando Valley, while trying to help juvenile prostitutes who want out of the sex trade.
"We're standing here to declare that these streets no longer belong to the pimps and the johns, but that they belong to the families of the 6th Council District," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez said. "Families shouldn't have to see young girls solicited on their way to the grocery store or to have to step on condoms while they are trapping their children into their car seats."
The enforcement will focus on Sun Valley and Van Nuys and will begin with police towing and impounding vehicles belonging to johns or pimps, she said.
LA City Officials, Police Crack Down On Valley Prostitution
"Our children will not be victimized by grown men and our neighborhoods will be safe," Martinez said. She said she would review the effort in six months.
City Attorney Mike Feuer said there is a need to go beyond arrests and convictions.
"We need to be addressing, not just the initial active arrest, but the underlying issues that led to the perpetration of the crime in the first place," he said.
Stephanie Powell, executive director of the Mary Magdalene Project, said the District Attorney's diversion program would help young women who want to get out of prostitution.
Juveniles arrested on suspicion of prostitution who agree to enter the program -- dubbed First Step -- will be referred to therapy, substance abuse programs and services for victims of sexual assault, among other social services. If they successfully complete a yearlong program, they will have a chance to clear their prostitution arrest, according to the District Attorney's Office.
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