(The Center Square) – A report by the Florida Legislature’s research arm found that the number verified cases of children involved in commercial sexual exploitation reached a four-year high in 2024.

According to the annual report by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, there were 379 verified commercial sex exploitation victims in 2024, up 11.8% compared to 2023 (339 verified victims). That’s still considerably less than the 10-year high of 400 verified victims recorded in 2018.

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Of the 379 verified victims, 261 were from ages 15 to 17 and 91% of them were female. 

The county with the highest number of verified victims was Broward County in south Florida with 47, followed by Miami-Dade (32), Palm Beach (27) Polk (22) and Duval (21) counties.

The report says the Florida Department of Child and Family Services has identified more than 3,000 victims of commercial sex exploitation since 2015, an average of 361 per year. 

The number of reports and investigations decreased, however, compared to 2023. In 2023, there were 3,358 reports of children victimized by commercial sexual exploitation, with 1,448 investigations and 339 verified victims. In 2024, the number of victims reached a four-year high, but reports declined to 2,797 and investigations dropped to 1,340. 

Child and Family Services also said reports increased between 2015 and 2022 because of legislation that requires prospective foster parents be trained to identify commercial sexual exploitation and another law that requires residential treatment centers to post human trafficking signage, potentially increasing public awareness.

In fiscal 2025, Florida service providers received more than $15 million from state appropriations and federal victim compensation funds to serve human trafficking victims.

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In the last 10 years, the Legislature passed several measures related to human trafficking. In 2012, lawmakers passed the Florida Safe Harbor Act, which created safe houses for victims of child sexual exploitation. The Legislature also passed a bill in 2016 that removed those under age 18 from being prosecuted for prostitution and made changes to the law to make sexually exploiting children in prostitution viewed as human trafficking.

The report recommends that the state continue to expand commercial sexual exploitation service and placement options, amend state laws to address challenges for victims to apply for and receive compensation and require the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide exploitation-specific treatment and services for verified and suspected victims.