OAKLAND - Oakland is a notorious destination along a nationwide prostitution circuit that traffics ever-younger girls -_ most between the ages of 11 and 14, experts said.
And the one thing most of the sexually exploited girls and boys have in common is that they are trying to escape sexual, mental and physical abuse at home.
The pimps and their corral of prostitutes are often a replacement family for girls who come from deeply troubled homes, said Debbie Hoffman, an outreach worker with the Community, Clergy and Recovery Effort (C-Care) program.
Instead of escaping abuse, the children are victimized again, lured in by manipulative pimps often called "daddies" -- who offer things as simple as a trip to McDonald's, and as longed-for a promise of security.
Hoffman sees girls starting out as young as 12 and 13 on Oakland's streets.
The youngest children bring the most money, but are the most scared, most hidden and most abused victims, said Oakland police Lt. Kevin Wiley, an expert on child exploitation.
They are so young their brains are still developing and some have developmental disabilities, Wiley said. Those factors combined with an abusive home makes them a "prime candidate" for sexual exploitation, he said.
"A girl on the street is a symptom of something else," Wiley said.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_8593356Since it has been International Ho Week this last week, I hope this issue gets the attention it deserves. There is the same issue here in the UK with vulnerable girls from very dysfunctional homes being manipulated into becoming prostitutes. They serve the clients who don't have big budgets and they are the ones who are lucky to come out of the job alive.
