At-risk teens found during Winnipeg sex trade sweep

Winnipeg police and outreach workers hit the streets Thursdaynight, looking for young people working in the sex tradeand thoseexploiting them.

Five at-risk youth, all between the ages of 14 and 15,were located and taken to places of safety. Two of them, however,were arrested and processed on outstanding warrants, police said.

In all, 46addresses were checked for missing youth and one person was issued a traffic ticket for allegedlyattempting to pick up a sex trade worker.

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It wasthe latest sweep in Project Return, a joint project that aims to protect young people at high risk of being sexually exploited.

Project Return involvesthe Winnipeg Police Service's counter exploitation unit, counter exploitation team, sex crimes unit and the missing persons unit, in partnership with outreach workers from StreetReach Winnipeg.