LEWISTON, Maine — The Lewiston Police Department arrested eight people on Tuesday and charged all of them with engaging a prostitute.
Lewiston police said it's part of an effort to reduce the number of female victims being forced or coerced into sex acts through human trafficking.
The sting and subsequent arrests were carried out by a Human Trafficking Task Force made up members of the Lewiston Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC), the Lisbon Police Department, the South Portland Police Department and the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office.
Lewiston police said the covert sting operation targeted those soliciting sex for money through the use of online escort sites. The department did not release the names of the people who were arrested and charged.
