The sex trafficking of minors and strip clubs is back in the news again in Oregon. This most recent incident involved a law enforcement raid conducted by local law enforcement and the FBI.
Police were acting on a tip discovered during an ongoing undercover sting operation of local strip clubs and their employment of underage female girls. The search warrant was related to a sex trafficking investigation involving a minor female who had been contacted by Beaverton Police detectives during an undercover prostitution investigation in July.
It was determined that the minor female had danced nude at Cheetah’s strip club in Salem. The hiring and exploitation of minor females at Oregon strip clubs is an ongoing problem about which we’ve written. It is a deplorable situation and the scourge has not been excised from our state yet. It will require a community effort to rid us of this problem and protect our children from sexual predators and drug dealers.
Sex trafficking is a nationwide problem but it is a particularly glaring problem in Oregon.
The FBI also reported 1 minor sex trafficking victim recovered and 10 prostitutes arrested or cited in Portland, plus 10 sex workers arrested or cited in Eugene.
If anyone has information on minors dancing at Cheetah’s, or any other strip club in the Portland Metro area, please contact Detective Chad Opitz at (503) 526-2674 or your local police department. Law enforcement needs our help and I can’t think of a better opportunity to get involved and save our children from these predators. The businesses involved in these enterprises should be shuttered and all Oregonians need to make it clear by their actions that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated in our state. If you have information about any strip club hiring or exploiting underage children, report this immediately to your local law enforcement agency.