27 children rescued in 5-week operation in Tampa Bay area
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The U.S. Marshals Service just completed a five-week operation to rescue critically at-risk children in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
A multi-agency task force, dubbed “Operation Seminole Saber” rescued 27 children from potential trafficking and other dangerous situations.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Mario Price said the task force was focused on one primary mission.
“The ultimate purpose of the operation is to recover missing children,” Price said.
U.S. Marshals teamed up with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Tampa Police Department, the St. Petersburg Police Departments, as well as other local agencies to find and recover the children.
“They’ve been reported missing by whoever their guardian is,” Price said. “Sometimes that’s a family member and sometimes these kids are wards of the state.”
Some of the children run away from abusive family situations and some are lured by bad people doing bad things.
“I do believe these kids are in legitimate danger and I think it’s important that we find them,” Price said.
However, when the children do leave, they often run into a world they are not ready for.
“Kids will run for a variety of different reasons, but they don’t always have plans in place for what they are going to do while on the run,” Price said.
Over the course of the operation, 27 children were safely located or recovered. When they are taken out of dangerous situations, one of the first places they are taken to is a specially dedicated wing at St. Joseph’s Hospital so they can be evaluated.
In some cases, the children are checked for physical or sexual abuse. Some are evaluated for other health issues.
The Director of Operations for BayCare Behavioral Health said sometimes they just provide a person to listen to the problems of the children who are brought in.
“Oftentimes, these kids have been in and out of health care situations, maybe not being able to talk or consent to what they want or who they’re with and what they’re told to say, Tracey Kaly said. “So we want this to be a space where they can make their own choices.”
She said some of the children just want to talk and they start the dialogue, “hey, you’ve been through a lot, would you like to talk a bit about what’s going on? Can we help you in the moment right now? Sometimes they just want to go to sleep and that’s OK,” Kaly said. “Sometimes they don’t want to talk to anyone and that’s OK.”
Price said the operation was a success.
“We were able to recover a number of potential human trafficking victims,” he said. “We were able to clear a number of juvenile arrest warrants.”
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