Mother who 'prostituted her two teenage daughters' arrested during human trafficking raids

23 suspects during significant crackdown by police and FBI on abuse of children

Paula Whittaker has been taken into custody accused of pimping out her daughters, aged 16 and 17 (Racine Police Department)

A mother has been arrested on suspicion of prostituting her own teenage daughters online, and renting her son’s room to a registered sex offender.

Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, caught Paula Whittaker, 55, as part of a sting operation, and charged her with advertising her two daughters, aged 16 and 17, for paid sex.

The children were recovered from their Racine home by agents from the FBI’s Milwaukee office during ‘Operation Cross Country X’, a nationwide crackdown on the illegal exploitation of children.

"It's very sad, I'm glad she got busted," local store owner Mahmood Hassan told FOX6 News. "I kinda figured something wasn't right cause I noticed a lot of activity upstairs."

Nine other children - three from Wauwatosa, three from Glendale and one from Milwaukee - were also rescued during the operation, and 23 suspects arrested. Meanwhile, a registered sex offender was said to be using the room belonging to Whittaker's son.

“This operation was successful due to the outstanding partnerships we have with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” said Investigator Neal Lofy, who specializes in human trafficking cases for the Racine Police Department.

“As a task force, we continue to focus on recovering sex-trafficking victims and providing them with advocacy and services that they may need as well as bringing those that exploit them to justice.”

About 20 law enforcement agencies from around the state participated in the operation, including five in Racine County. The programme involves providing victims with resources to get them on a path to rehabilitation, the police said