LOS ANGELES--A sex trafficking ring involving teenage girls has been broken up and four Guatemalan women have been sentenced to multi-decade prison terms.

Federal prosecutors say the impoverished victims from Guatemala were lured to the Los Angeles area and forced into prostitution. Some were forced to have sex with as many as thirty men a day or face beatings if they tried to escape.

Thom Mrozek in the U.S. Attorney’s office says international sex trafficking is new in Southern California.

“We don’t know how prevalent this activity is. We have a human trafficking task force that is active throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire working with local law enforcement to determine if there are any victims out there, how quickly we can spring into action and take these women out of their misery.”

Sentencing of the four women and a man ends a two-year investigation that began in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles. (INT)

Story Date: August 21, 2009