Fifty-two children who used to live on the streets of Santo Domingo have been picked up by the Attorney General’s office’s Child Protection Department units. The children were begging and working on the streets. The children who were picked up before 7:00pm were taken to the Santo Domingo Children’s Prosecutor’s office in the Ozama sector and to the Villa Juana children’s facility. The operation continued throughout the night. The kids had been selling water and flowers, shining shoes and begging at several intersections in the city. Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito told reporters that he “would not tolerate” the abandoning of children by their parents. He said that the next step is to locate the children’s parents and warn them that they will face the courts if they do not behave responsibly. He recognized the fact that, at times, the children are used by adults to beg on the streets of the city. The AG also pointed out that it is illegal for any child under 14 to be working.