Minnesota child-sex sting during Final Four results in 58 arrests, state says

A sting operation by Minnesota state police targeting child sex trafficking led to 58 people being arrested and 28 victims being rescued.

The operation was carried out by state police during the NCAA Final Four tournament earlier this month in Minneapolis and resulted in dozens of arrests by police posing as minors or sex buyers, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The rescued victims included one minor.

{mosads}Officers do not believe that the suspects arrested this month were part of a broader sex trafficking ring, according to the news service.

“These were separate instances where they either responded to undercover officers posing as sex buyers or undercover officers posing as minors,” Bureau of Criminal Apprehension spokeswoman Jill Oliveira told Reuters.

Forty-seven people were arrested on charges of felony solicitation of a minor or solicitation of someone under 16 for prostitution, according to authorities, while 11 more were reportedly arrested on probable cause of sex trafficking charges.

“This operation is an example of the aggressive steps necessary to stop traffickers and johns who buy and sell people for sex in our communities,” Drew Evans of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told Reuters.

A separate sex trafficking sting in Florida made headlines earlier this year when dozens of men, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, were charged with solicitation of a prostitute related to their visits to a chain of Florida spas.

Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and has denied any wrongdoing. He recently rejected a plea deal from prosecutors, who offered to drop the charges in exchange for paying a fine and completing an education course as well as 100 hours of community service.