Five Women Cited for Loitering and Prostitution

HEMET - Five young women in Hemet were cited for loitering and prostitution during a six-hour nighttime sweep, a sheriff's sergeant said today.

Deputies and Hemet police officers targeted females suspected of soliciting along Florida Avenue. The Tuesday night operation was aimed at disrupting sex trafficking involving juveniles, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. John Sawyer said.

The women, who initially appeared underage but were determined to be adults, were offered temporary shelter and counseling in an effort to deter them from a life of sexual exploitation, Sawyer said. Their names were wit...