Story and photos by Shiloh Ireland and Miriam Raftery 

View video by Douglas Quaid including event highlights and ECM interviews with Monica Dean (photo, left) and Dr. Rhonda Taylor

January 28, 2023 (Lakeside) –Sex trafficking of children inSan Diego “is happening in every single school district inSan Diego County,” NBC San Diego investigative reporter Monica Dean (photo, left) told parents and teachers during a showing of the documentary film “Stolen” at El Capitan High School in Lakeside on January 19.

That shocking evidence was found during NBC San Diego’s award-winning investigative reporting series on which the film is based. Dean, a mother of three young children, hopes to raise awareness to protect vulnerable children and teens in the community from exploitation by traffickers. “We all have to stand up against them,” she says of traffickers. “We all have a role to play.”

San Diego is one of the country’s hotspots for trafficking of adults and children – the FBI has ranked San Diego as one of the 13 worst regions in the United States with up to 8,000 victims per year.

By Miriam Raftery

October 4, 2017 (La Mesa) -- The FBI has classified the San Diego area as a high intensity child prostitution area. San Diego ranks among the worst 13 cities for child prostitution, an 810-million-dollar criminal enterprise locally.