POLICE in Mallorca have arrested 17 people involved in an underage prostitution ring that ‘recruited’ troubled girls, many of whom were in care at centres across the island.
A special investigation by ‘family crimes unit’ led to the arrest of ten men and seven women for the alleged corruption of minors, said the Policia Nacional in a statement.
Three of those arrested were underage girls who had allegedly convinced others to runaway from the children’s homes to have sex in exchange for money.
The remaining fourteen people arrested were aged between 21 and 65 years old had paid the girls for sex after contacting them through sex ads.
The arrests followed an investigation dating back to 2018 when police uncovered a prostitution ring that recruited young girls from child protection centres run by local authorities.
The girls were advertised on the Internet offering their services, or clients were put in contact with them through the network, or by word of mouth from others who had previously had sex with the minors.
Those arrested gave statements via videoconference at Palma’s Policia Nacional headquarters and were later released.
Further statements were taken from six other men and the investigation remains open.
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