PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Human trafficking victims are being branded and sold for sex in the Tampa Bay area, ABC’s I-Team found.

Those working with victims told I-Team Investigator Kylie McGivern those permanent markings can often remain with trafficking victims even after they are rescued. The victims are all young white girls, some being raped by more than 10 men one after each other every day.

“It’s like branding cattle,” said Cpl. Alan Wilkett, who leads Pasco County’s human trafficking task force. “It’s an ownership mark. Branding is when somebody — a pimp or a trafficker — will put his mark or his symbol or his sign on his victims through some sort of tattoo.”