(CBS/AP) In one of the largest coordinated crackdowns against child prostitution in the United States, the government has arrested 19 people and charged more than 30 across several states.

The crackdown was the latest phase of an ongoing national investigation into criminal enterprises involved in the recruitment of children for prostitution called "Innocence Lost."

Charges have been filed in recent days in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and others are expected, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the topic before Gonzales' announcement.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker announced the recent arrests a news conference in Washington today, saying that the operation has identified more than 30 child victims, bringing the overall total identified to more than 200 since 2003.

Items seized in this latest sweep included residential properties, vehicles, U.S. currency, electronics, jewelry, and child pornography images, according to the Justice Department.

"Our society has no place for those who prey on children and no tolerance for child prostitution or sex trafficking," said Gonzales. "The Justice Department and our partners in the law enforcement community are committed to stopping this terrible practice and protecting our children."

A grand jury in Camden, New Jersey, indicted eight people Wednesday on charges they conspired to recruit girls to be prostitutes in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and New York, according to court documents. The defendants managed a prostitution ring that also extended to Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, the indictment said.

Matthew Thompkins and five others were arrested Sunday and are in custody in New Jersey, the official said. Thompkins had a central role in the conspiracy, the indictment said.

In Detroit, a grand jury charged four Ohio residents with forcing two girls, 14 and 15, to have sex at a truck stop in Michigan. The girls had been held as virtual prisoners in Toledo, Ohio, where they were told to address one defendant, Deric Willoughby, as "Daddy," and taken to hotel rooms for prostitution. Their payments were eventually turned over to Willoughby, the indictment said.

Two other defendants, Jennifer Huskey and Brandy Shope, are adults who also worked as prostitutes, the indictment says.

A fourth person, Richard Lamar Gordon, is identified in the indictment as a truck driver who took the girls from a parking lot in the Toledo area to the Michigan truck stop and had sex with one of them. He has not been arrested, the official said.

Domestic child prostitution cases have been a federal law enforcement priority since 2003 with the advent of the Justice Department's Innocence Lost Initiative. When he became attorney general in February, Gonzales said he would focus on reducing all forms of human trafficking.

Several federal laws ban sexual trafficking in children, including one that specifically applies to taking minors across state lines to engage in prostitution.

There were more than 160 arrests in such cases in the government spending year that ended Sept. 30, according to the FBI.