(Virtual) Japanese Teen Prostitutes in Hiroshima

I received another tweet from The Tokyo Reporter about a recent teen prostitution bust in Hiroshima. 

Here's a summary: 

HIROSHIMA (TR) – Hiroshima Prefectural Police last week announced a crackdown on teenage girls who use use dating sites to solicit prostitution, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 9).

Between December 2 and 28, law enforcement carried out patrols of a number of deai-kei “encounter” matchmaking sites in search of “inappropriate” messages from young females.

Over that period, officers took 26 girls, aged between 14 and 19, into protective custody 

Since 2012, sex club employees pretending to be customers have used such sites to recruit girls for employment in the form of prostitution referred to as enjo kosai (or compensated dating). The high rate of occurrence of the incidents has raised concerns with prefectural police. 

Of the 26 girls cited by prefectural police, the majority were in search of spending money.