“Exploited: Inside the Dark World of Child Trafficking” is a 10-part series by IndyStar columnist Tim Swarens, with the support of a Society of Professional Journalists fellowship. Swarens spent more than a year investigating the lucrative trade where children are abused at low risk to buyers or traffickers. In “Part IX: Inside a Brothel with a 5-year-old Boy” Swarens tells the story of a 5-year-old boy who wants to be a police officer when he grows up, but today lives in a brothel.

Read Part I here.

Read Part II here.

Read Part III here.

Read Part IV here.

Read Part V here.

Read Part VI here.

Read Part VII here.

Read Part VIII here.