FBI rescued 600 kids from sexual abuse last year, calls level of trafficking ‘epidemic’

Each year, tens of thousands of American children are sexually exploited. Every night, the FBI believes hundreds are sold into sex.

According to a new report from the BBC, the bureau rescued 600 children last year. But the FBI says the amount of child sexual abuse in the U.S. has reached an “epidemic” level.

Perhaps not surprising, poverty and neglect are deemed two of the biggest factors that contribute to sex trafficking.

The BBC spoke with several women who are former sex workers. One was 14 years old when “a guy I thought I liked” kidnapped her. She returned two years later.

“The level of paedophilia is just unprecedented right now,” the FBI’s Joseph Campbell told BBC’s Ian Pannell.