Girls and boy forced into prostitution, police say

More than two dozen pimps, thugs and middle men who forced or duped seven underage girls and a 14-year-old boy into prostitution and then took 75 per cent of what they were paid have been arrested.

A total of 26 people - 19 men and seven women - face an array of charges relating to the procurement and placement of their young victims - six of them secondary school students - into so-called 'compensated dating', a disguised form of prostitution, police said yesterday.

The boy is understood to have provided sex to both male and female clients. Police refused to reveal how they found him, but said the victims were aged 13 to 17. A number of victims were provided with school uniforms as part of the vice racket.

'Some of the girls were forced into having their photos taken naked and revealing personal information, such as their school and home address, before being forced into prostitution,' said Chief Inspector Dick Wong Chung-chun of the Kowloon West regional crime unit.

Detectives said one of the girls had been involved in 'compensated dating' for about three months and had been forced to have sex with 10 men.

Superintendent Brian Lowcock said police would help the teenagers apply for care and protection orders, and refer their cases to the Social Welfare Department.

After an intelligence-gathering operation over the past two months, police began arresting suspects on July 19. Three of those arrested had been charged and the rest released on bail. The charges include controlling prostitutes and intimidation.