MIAMI — New numbers are in on arrests for human trafficking in the week leading up to Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens earlier this month.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office just released a report on sex crimes during Super Bowl week.
According to the report, there were:
- 157 arrests for prostitution, including women from Boynton Beach and Lake Worth
- 39 arrests for human trafficking, or being an accessory to human trafficking
- 8 men arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from women
Palm Beach Gardens anti-trafficking activist Dawn Marie wishes police could have arrested more "johns."
"We have laws in place," said Marie. "But I don’t know if these guys will do any time, or have any consequences come to them for paying for the services of commercial sex.”
Marie has mixed feelings of the news that 20 women who are victims were rescued.
"It’s not enough. I know there are many more women in captivity," Marie said.
Still, Marie and other activists say the rescue of 20 women in the Miami area may be more than at any prior Super Bowl. She and other activists credit the attention they brought to the problem ahead of the big event.
