The District Attorney announced the persecution of owners of three entertainment centers in Andres, Boca Chica, the town adjacent to the tourist resort area of Boca Chica. The owners of the pension Los Coquitos, the bar Lindo Amanecer and the Café Nuevo Milenio are accused of hiring minors. It is illegal to allow minors into bars and discotheques in the DR, and much less to employ these. According to an El Siglo newspaper report, meanwhile, the administrators of Lindo Amanecer and Milenio will be tried for violation of the law that protects minors. Senator for Santo Domingo Jose Antonio Najri told the Listin Diario newspaper that more late night and early morning raids are necessary to detect the businesses that allow minors to frequent or employ these. In his opinion, businesses where minors are found should be permanently shut down. Rear Admiral Hector Antonio Lizardo Jorge of the Tourism Police said that in the past four months, his department has dismantled four rings of foreigners that promoted the activity. He said that every day they arrest about 10 minors, but these cannot be retained because the law only allows the arrest of a minor for one hour. Minister of Education, Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch said that the prostitution of minors is a social problem caused by the poverty of the residents that live in areas adjacent to tourism destinations, that make them easy prey to attractive cash offers by sex vendors. Social workers seek to find the children alternatives to motivate them to stay in school and away from prostituting themselves. The judicial and police actions were taken after Hoy newspaper denounced cases of minors seen at bars in the Boca Chica area.
