The police arrested the members of two criminal groups that sexually exploited minor girls. One case involves five victims aged between 13 and 15, who were forced to work as prostitutes on the streets, while the second – seven minor gilds of similar ages and two girls who came of age who were forced to provide sexual services in rented apartments, IPN reports.

Iurie Podarilov, deputy head of the Center for Combating Trafficking in Persons, told a press briefing that two men and a woman were arrested in the first case. The woman, who is a Russian national, headed the group. It was established that in 2014-2015 the suspects recruited minor girls and forced them to prostitute themselves on Calea Basarabiei St in Chisinau. When the group members were arrested, the police identified three girls and afterward another two, who managed to run away. All the victims are from socially deprived families from different districts. If they refused to provide sexual services, they were beaten or raped by members of the group.

Seven persons were arrested in the second case. The group was headed by a man aged 24 from Ialoveni. He lured a minor girl and influenced her to recruit other girls from a Chisinau vocational school, where she studied. She offered her mates to work as masseurs, but these were then forced to have sex for money. For the purpose, the suspects rented apartments in Chisinau and placed announcements on different websites. During the arrest, the head of the group tried to put up resistance and to run away, but didn’t manage too.

The ten suspects are under arrest and face 15 to 20 years behind bars or life.