LITTLE ROCK, AR – A teen has been rescued from a human trafficking operation in Arkansas.
In a news release issued Monday, the Arkansas State Police (ASP) said troopers and civilian investigators with its Crimes Against Children Division (CACD) are being credited with finding the 15-year-old girl who had been sexually exploited while being held against her will.
The ASP says the arrest of Amber Johnson, 28, of North Little Rock last Wednesday night (April 29) at a south Little Rock motel, has become part of a larger human trafficking investigation. The investigation has identified a second teenager who was the victim of human trafficking and sexual exploitation at locations in east Arkansas.
State Troopers and CACD investigators also recovered two children, ages two and three, who had been kept in the Little Rock motel room with the teenage girl.
“The credit goes to the State Troopers who initially had little to work with; only allegations of a runaway child somewhere in Arkansas being held against her will at an unknown location,” said Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police. “The troopers reached out to others in this department who possess specialized training and together they devoted themselves to rescue a child lost in the vicious world of human traffickers.”
“Arkansas should be proud of the outstanding response by the Arkansas State Police on this case,” stated David T. Resch, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock FBI Field Office.
The State Troopers assigned to the State Police Highway Patrol Division, Criminal Investigation Division and civilian investigators of the Crimes Against Children Division are working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney relating to the Little Rock arrest.
