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December 20
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Eleven adults were arrested in a human trafficking operation conducted by authorities in Castaic and Stevenson Ranch Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce, along with deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, conducted the operation.

Four male adults were arrested in the 31700 block of Castaic Road, Castaic. The suspects were arrested on prostitution-related charges after they solicited sex acts from an undercover Sheriff’s Deputy walking on Castaic Road.

Seven male adults were arrested on the 25200 block of The Old Road, Stevenson Ranch, after responding to sexually suggestive ads placed on several internet sites. Each of the males agreed to meet undercover Sheriff’s deputies at a local hotel for the purposes of sex.

All those arrested during this operation were transported to and booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The operation included task force partners from the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department and the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

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78 Comments

  1. Stephanie Hovsepian Becky Flores Jules Torrez

  2. Awesome Town!…….Geez

  3. In our own backyard. Pray for safety,but mostly pray we return to God!

    • ger says:

      Lets see; was not Mary Magdalene also a sex trafficker?Bury your head in the sand Jesus is a DEMOCRAT.The traffickers will prosper in Kerm County

  4. Shellie Kitzes Bremner awesome town, not so awesome. Geezus

  5. Jeanne says:

    Wait a minute. This sounded at first like people being held prisoner forced to have sex.

    That is NOT what this story is.
    This is people agreeing to have sex. regular prostitution. So you arrested a bunch of Johns right?

    Sleazy yes but not really what all of us consider “human trafficking”. Did you rescue women or men being help prisoner? Catch anybody other than some “johns”?

    Go ahead and report picking up johns to stop prostitution but don’t mislead with the title or we won’t know what you are talking about when you REALLY rescue people being held and forced into sex like you did a while back.

  6. Jeanne says:

    If the internet sites were about having sex with underage or unwilling than I am fine with you nailing them. I am fine with you going after them if they are just johns too. But this is not the same as catching the people kidnapping and holding people hostage so please don’t call it the same thing.

    I know that prostitution wouldn’t exist without the johns but not all prostitutes are prisoners or unwilling. Not all johns would have sex with someone being forced if they knew.

  7. jeanne says:

    So the Sheriffs had some female deputies strut around on the old road and some men tried to pick the up to have sex. This is just an old fashioned prostitution sting.

    The Sheriffs ran some ads about women or men willing to have sex and some men showed up. Were they trying to have sex with children? Or did they think they were meeting willing prostitutes?

    Look, I’m a conservative baby boomer grandmother who doesn’t know a lot about this kind of crap but it does not seem like SCV is going to hell. The story was misleading at best.

  8. Like i told a friend a while back , this would not suprise me, soooo many more people hoarding into SCV that anything can be happening behind closed doors, next thing we’ll be seeing headlines of a pedophile ring too, hope not.

  9. Yet Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown will let human trafficking criminals off with a warning.

  10. Guillermo Medrano (Memo)

  11. Consenting adults attempting to engage in capitalism… great use of resources.

  12. Nina Marie, near your work! Be careful sweetie!❤️

  13. Kim Lamas says:

    So happy these 11 predators r off the streets at least for for tonight

  14. Nicole Luna says:

    Carolyn Tucker this is nuts! In our own backyard. Glad they were caught!

    • I know I saw this. I can’t believe it . Human trafficking is everywhere sadly so happy they were caught and quit a bit of them . Soo sooo scary ? keep a good eye on our kiddos .

  15. Rob Sumner says:

    I had the officer come up to my window and asked if I was looking for a date. I didn’t do anything other than a stop to get auto parts and I was a target for the aggressive tactics used by Santa Clarita’s finest! It is a complete set-up and a waste of tax dollars besides being just plain wrong. I have to say, The officer they used was very pretty and easily commanded everyone’s attention as she was prancing around, you couldn’t help but notice her. whos to say if these men that were arrested had any thought of buying a hooker if it wasn’t randomly shoved in their face every couple years. Everyone on here is so up in arms about the city going to hell, when its the city promoting that image in the first place.

    • SCVNews.com says:

      What city? Castaic isn’t in a city. The city of Santa Clarita had nothing to do with it. This was L.A. County.

  16. Rob Sumner says:

    Didn’t think you would print another viewpoint!

  17. Viva Los Pinchis Dodgers Cabrones!!

  18. Katie Newman. Alexa Michele. Whatttttt?????

  19. Rob Sumner says:

    The best part is the comments! I love the comments! Sickos, lock them up, best keep an eye on the kiddies! I’ve got news for you people you’re supposed to be keeping an eye on your kids already before reading this crap from our local PD! And I wonder how many of you leaving comments to turn off the computer and jump into bed with the hubby and break out the handcuffs and close pins trying to keep it interesting, but that’s ok!

  20. I’m confused. These dudes thought they were going to bang a hooker and that’s now classed as “human trafficking”?

  21. Desiree DA Rosy Selena Bloom

    • Gregory S Banta says:

      I’m amazed that after the astounding home prices, and exorbitant property taxes, that people could actually afford prostitution.

  22. They were arrested for prostitution charges… Is this a human trafficing prostitution ring? Cops were undercover.

    • Lisa Summers says:

      I saw this! What the heck?

      • Jeanne says:

        At least the SIGNAL called them “johns”. NO, this is not a human trafficking ring. This was a Sheriffs sting where they pretend to be hookers and lure in guys for sex and then bust them.

        • SCVNews.com says:

          Note the author: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

          • Jeanne says:

            You are correct that your story was from the Sheriffs dept. Total cut and paste for sure.

            At least the SIGNAL added a paragraph at the beginning to clarify what the story was REALLY about. They did however use the same misleading term in the title of the story “Human Trafficking”.

          • SCVNews.com says:

            Not sure what you mean by “total cut and paste.” We run press releases from government agencies and nonprofit agencies. So obviously most things on SCVNews.com are “total cut and paste.” (Unlike SCVTV.com and SCVHistory.com.)

          • Jeanne says:

            Really? I guess that was my mistake. So now I see the value in the SIGNAL instead of SCVNews which is a billboard.

          • SCVNews.com says:

            The primary purpose of SCVNews.com is to share government/school/nonprofit press releases. Our original work is on SCVTV.com and SCVHistory.com. We encourage you to read The Signal and listen to KHTS.

          • Jeanne says:

            SCVNews still allows for community comments and open dialogue in a way the the SIGNAL USED TO but does not anymore. That is where the real value of this site is.
            Plus it is easy to navigate.

            I still love you. Lets not fight anymore:)

          • SCVNews.com says:

            :)

  23. Jeanne says:

    This was just prostitution but this article is calling it “Human trafficking”. These were just “Johns” caught by undercover sheriffs trying to arrange consensual sex. Gross, but not the same thing at all as Human trafficking. If it was, how many “captives were rescued?”.

  24. wmscv says:

    We’re talking about men seeking sex with prostitutes. Nothing new here. Prohibition didn’t stop alcohol abuse, war on drugs didn’t work either. Once they can figure out how to tax it they’ll legalize it. Just another waste of tax payer resources fighting something they can’t stop.

  25. So paying for sex from a consenting adult is now human trafficking. Good to know. Way to blow the actual crime out of Proportion CA.

    • Matilda Marten says:

      Not even real prostitutes used, just Sheriffs dept. deputies. How could this be Human trafficking? This was just prostitution sting.

      This story is misleading to say the least. Makes SCV sound awful which is NOT TRUE.

  26. Jeanne says:

    I apologize to SCVNews. I thought they actually reported news but they just told me they just forward press releases mainly so content is not guaranteed to be correct I guess.
    It is not their fault that the Sheriff’s dept. keeps trying to make every bust sound like a major bust at the expense of the reputation of Santa Clarita.

  27. brett says:

    Doesn’t LA County have better things to do with their time and our money. I think its just a bunch of pervert cops getting their kicks at our expense. We’ve legalized pot, now legalize prostitution. The waste of tax payers dollars and the waste of resources by LA County is almost as bad here as their NAT storm troopers in Acton/Agua Dulce, Palmdale, Littlerock and surrounding areas. Look that one up!

  28. Kurt Buck says:

    Prostitution is a voluntary arrangement between consenting adults. No victim, no crime.
    It is very different from human trafficking. The headline was misleading.

  29. Lisa Parrish says:

    I’m originally from NJ and I can remember that when such an arrest was made for soliciting prostitutes, the alleged Johns’ names were published in the newspaper. The idea was to shame not just the prostitutes but the Johns who promulgate such business. I wish CA would do the same. Also, the headlines have as much information as the stories so why subscribe to a newspaper if it provides no details.

  30. Matthew Bates says:

    Human trafficking I think not; at first I thought good job! They saved victims but then I clicked to read about it and it was just prostitution stings. Click bait

  31. BWH says:

    Out of 48 comments (so far), 9 brave clear headed souls displayed intelligence and called this what is actually is. Jeanne, Rob, Paul, Nicole, Corrine, wmscv, Anders, Matilda and Kurt; you are my people. The majority of Californians have sadly become sheeple. As the old saying goes; know where you’re going and leave quickly.

  32. Ron Perry says:

    This place just keeps getting better and better. Geez Wiz!

  33. Fred Rogers says:

    Castaic isn’t considered SCV to me.

  34. Amanda Bravo says:

    Brittany Yukawa !!

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