Arrests made in Lakewood as part of nationwide child prostitution bust

Nine women and one juvenile were arrested in Lakewood on prostitution-related charges as part of a national crackdown on sexual exploitation.

Undercover Lakewood officers worked with the local Innocence Lost Task Force on the operation Friday, Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said.

Nationwide, 69 child prostitutes were found during the three-day crackdown nicknamed Operation Cross County V. Of those, two dozen were found in Washington, FBI spokesman Steven Dean told KOMO News.

Nine of the 99 suspected pimps arrested in the three-day enforcement called Operation Cross Country were caught in King, Pierce or Snohomish counties.

The FBI was working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify the children. All have been placed into protective custody or returned to their families.

During the Lakewood operation, undercover operations posed as customers and contacted woman via the Internet, Lawler said.

Tacoma police arrested eight suspects during an operation with the local Innocence Lost Task Force last week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 8, 2010 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Arrests made in Lakewood as part of nationwide child prostitution bust."