CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
We are working on a story about human trafficking in Chicago that you have to see to believe: thousands of children -- some just 11-years-old -- selling their bodies every night.
We talked with a former teen prostitute named Patricia who said johns want younger girls.
"They felt like they could get away with a lot more than with older women," Patricia said. "Horrible things. Urination. Spitting. Choking."
The feds and local police have a new awareness that prostitution is not just a nuisance. The heart of it is child abuse and violence.
"I start seeing that there's eleven, twelve, thirteen-year-old girls being used as prostitutes, and where some guy, some pimp, is basically making money off of them," said Chicago Police officer Nick Roti. "It turns your stomach."
Authorities said traffickers show no shame. They prey on children, then party and brag about it.
"Chicago is almost kind of a ground zero for the celebrity pimp," said FBI Special Agent Gregory Wing.
To catch them, there's new law, and the first-ever state level wiretap in a trafficking case which resulted in a record-breaking sentence for the pimp. But it won't restore the innocence he stole when he "turned out" more than a dozen underage girls.
