California investigators arrested 14 sex buyers and rescued 10 victims — one of them a 16-year-old girl — this past weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con Convention.

“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,”said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement. “These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”

Bonta said the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force worked a sting operation at the convention, which hosts more than 100,000 people annually.

Investigators posed as sex buyers to suss out potential victims and their traffickers, including posting undercover ads soliciting sex, the attorney general’s office said.

“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con – highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,”said Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations San Diego. “However, when people use these events as an opportunity to prey upon minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you before a court of law to face criminal charges.”

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, the San Diego Police Department, and the Naval Criminal Investigation Service participated as part of the task force and provided statements for the attorney general’s press release.

Other agencies include the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National City Police Department, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Probation Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

Apparently, the 14 arrests were people soliciting prostitution and not actual traffickers. The attorney general did not say what charges they face.

The victims, including the minor, were provided services.

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[Featured image: Pony Head from “Star vs. the Forces of Evil” is pictured during Comic-Con International on Friday, July 26, 2024, in San Diego. (Photo by Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)]