SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - San Diego is the 13th top city in the United States for child prostitution. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis launched a human trafficking task force saying charges have more than tripled since 2009.
The district attorney has vowed to fight the problem, and now law enforcement has the help of a group of local teens.
Derek Ensley and Bryan Jones, both 15-years-old from El Cajon, created "Porn Supports Sex Trafficking Awareness," (PSST Awareness), to break the chains of sex slavery on both sides - porn addiction and human trafficking. The teens said porn addiction feeds human trafficking as more victims are solicited.
"It's the biggest [porn] industry in the world and it's going to be hard to take it down, we know that," said Derek.
According to the District Attorney, 11,000 men, women, teen boys and teen girls in San Diego fall victim each year.
"Part of our number one goal is to just spread awareness because we did not know about this. That is half the reason why we stepped up to this because it blew us away that this is an issue," said Bryan.
In the past two months, 20 other teens have joined Bryan and Derek by spreading the word on social media and church. The teens believe the dangers of watching porn could be fueling sex exploitation among young girls and boys.
The teens hope to raise $15,000 to help free four victims and stop the next person from clicking on a porn video.
To help reach the $15,000 dollar goal, "Porn Supports Sex Trafficking Awareness" group will hold a car wash on June 11th. Money will be donated to "Sert Ministries" who help rescue the victims.