SPOTLIGHT CASE Human Trafficking Awareness Thread

[shadowraiths]

Human trafficking scope is unknown
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published 11:30 pm, Saturday, January 12, 2013
( link )

"Over the last decade, Congress has failed to conduct the oversight necessary to ensure the programs and agencies tasked with fighting these terrible crimes are operating in an efficient and effective manner," the report said.
Information problems stunt state-level programs, too. Programs in Georgia focus on underage girls sold for sex, leaving boys nowhere to turn.

The Georgia Care Connection Office, the state's anti-child prostitution program, served no male clients in its first two years. Researchers who surfed Craigslist for the state's count of minors who were sex trafficking victims did not search for boys.

Had researchers looked, they might have seen the Craigslist ads by a Douglasville man pimping a slender teenage boy for $160.

Steven Donald Lemery lured troubled gay teen runaways to his home and forced them to peddle sex online. Some of their sex ads would receive hundreds of responses.

[...]

Kaffie McCullough, a longtime trafficking opponent, said that this may be advocates' fault. "We thought, maybe wrongly, that there were more female victims instead of male victims," McCullough said.

Whether Georgia is overlooking scores of boys sold for sex is anyone's guess.

[...]

Trafficking is a hidden crime. Gay runaways duck police to avoid being sent home. Girls confuse investigators by calling pimps their "boyfriends." Foreign victims stay in the shadows because they fear deportation.

"There really isn't any concrete information," said Meredith Dank, an Urban Institute researcher who studies domestic and foreign trafficking.​

 

[tlcya]

11 young women from Mexico and Nicaragua were rescued from lives of forced prostitution. They say the women, most in their 20s, were brought to the United States illegally on false promises of prosperity.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/1...into-prostitution-network-in-4/#ixzz2IGh7ll5o

 

[tlcya]

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=ju_t4#/video/us/2013/01/18/tsr-pkg-savidge-human-trafficking.cnn

Video of multijurisdictional bust called Operation Dark Night.

 

[Reader]

Human trafficking becomes state legislative issue

http://www.nwcn.com/news/national/186501411.html

...........In the state Legislature, a pending bill would vacate the criminal convictions of people found to have engaged in illegal activity because they were victims of trafficking. Experts say trafficking survivors, such as those forced into the sex trade, cannot move on with their lives if they're burdened with a criminal record.

At least seven states, including New York, have passed such laws.

This is a good move and all states should be encouraged to pass similar bills.....if the victims have criminal records it's hard for them to get jobs, establish citizenship and other benefits they need to start a new life...

 

[Reader]

Polaris Project

Celebrating Ten Years

http://www.polarisproject.org/about-us/10-years-of-impact

Watch an interview with our Co-Founder, Katherine Chon, as she shares how how she and Derek Ellerman were inspired to launch an organization where everyday people could come together to do extraordinary things to overcome the scourge of slavery.

2002-2012 Ten Years of Impact Report

http://www.polarisproject.org/about-us/financial-information/2002-2012-report

Legislative Toolbox

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/legislative-toolbox

Polaris Project created the Legislative Toolbox which includes an array of tools and resources to assist legislators, staff, and advocates in enacting legislation to combat human trafficking.

Historical Record of Introduced State Legislation

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-...orical-record-of-introduced-state-legislation

2012 State Ratings Map

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/current-laws

Note: I did a search and found this project posted on some missing persons threads but not in this forum yet...

 

[shadowraiths]

Clandestine Partnerships?: The Link between Human Trafficking and Organized Crime in Metropolitan Atlanta ( pdf )

Since the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which directly criminalized human trafficking, research on human trafficking has significantly increased. While recent studies have analyzed trafficking legislation, characteristics of offenders and victims, and types of human trafficking rings, little data has been collected on human trafficking ties to organized crime.

Therefore, this research explores human trafficking and its relationship to organized crime through an analysis of public court records. Specifically, the study includes the 20 federal human trafficking cases in metropolitan Atlanta indicted between 2000 and 2012. It was found that 80% of the 20 human trafficking cases did not involve a tie to organized crime.

Three cases involved rings that relied upon an organized crime group to provide services in furtherance of human trafficking. Only one case was operated by an organized crime syndicate. International cases were more likely to include organized crime relationships than domestic cases.

Sex trafficking cases overwhelmingly demonstrated a more frequent tie to organized crime. Therefore, researchers should analyze sex and labor trafficking separately, and law enforcement should acknowledge the numerous forms that human trafficking may take.​

 

[zwiebel]

Not quite sure where to post this, but I couldn't find a thread for this child in UIDs, and he was definitely trafficked

I've just heard a really interesting news item on BBC radio about 'Adam', a young Nigerian child whose mutilated remains were discovered in the Thames river in London, England on Sept 21, 2001. Police are sure he was trafficked, and also think 'witchcraft' rituals played a part in his death.

The case is the only unsolved child murder in the whole of London in recent years. The BBC journalist travelled to Nigeria with the detective originally in charge of the case (now retired), to talk to Joyce Ossegade who was questioned about Adam before she was deported from England. She's always said the child was called Daniel and denied knowing anything about his death. She had provided the only pic of Adam/Daniel Doe. In the programme, she finally admitted Daniel was alive and well.

The journalist tracked down the grown up Daniel to here, in Germany. He identified the pic of himself as a child and was shocked to find people had thought he was the dead child for 12 years!

Joyce admitted to the journalist that Adam Doe's real name was Patrick Erabo, he was trafficked to her in Germany, then taken to London by a man called Kingsley Ojo and she 'cared' for him in the weeks before he was killed, but she knows nothing else. Kingsley Ojo however, spoke from jail (where he's imprisoned for people trafficking) and said 'Joyce knows what happened to that boy'.

When asked if he he knew what had happened to Adam, Kingsley hesitated, then said: 'No'.

Detectives say they have new information today that may help them solve the case.

Please excuse all name spellings as I've written them as heard.

Link to news article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21365961

This radio programme was an item on the 6pm news, Thursday, 7 Feb 2013. You can download a podcast here, I hope:http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4


ETA: Four Scotland Yard Dectives spent a month visiting 1,000 Nigerian villages in the attempt to id this poor little boy!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2824417.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rs-mysterious-death-Africa.html#axzz2KAAfuEvS

 

[tlcya]

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/clayton-woman-charged-with-trafficking-teens-for-s/nWNqR/

The teens were allowed to come and go as they pleased, but were forced to have sex with Washington’s customers – men who responded to online ads on Craig’s List and backpage.com – to earn food, shelter and clothing.

“A lot of these victims don’t feel like they have any other avenue to go in these types of situations,” Putnam said. “We have reason to believe there are other (victims).”

 

[shadowraiths]

U.S. Sex trafficking victims are mostly American kids ( link )

Human-trafficking cases filed in San Diego federal court have jumped more than 600 percent in the past five years as the victimization of children and adults for sex or labor has gained a bigger spotlight, law-enforcement officials said Friday at a regional conference on the topic.

One of those cases began when a San Diego teenager found a job as a bookkeeper for a small, home-based business. The position quickly turned into a nine-month nightmare of beatings and sexual slavery. Within weeks, the employer revealed himself as a pimp, beat the teen and set a $1,200 daily quota for her prostitution. The victim was 17 at the time.

[...]

Human trafficking also has changed with the use of technology to recruit and advertise, said Travis Le Blanc, special assistant attorney general of California.

Traffickers seek vulnerable girls and boys by trolling the Internet, especially Facebook, looking for kids who appear bored, sad, lonely or neglected. They cruise malls during school hours to chat up youngsters who did not go to class and lurk around homes for foster children, centers for at-risk children and classrooms with special-needs students.

“It’s all lifestyles, we’ve seen it in all facets,” said George Crysler, a deputy sheriff who is part of the North County Human Trafficking Task Force.

Foster children are most at risk but it can happen to anyone, said Sharon Cooper, an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical School.

“Traffickers are very, very wily in the way they locate victims,” said Cooper, who was a speaker at the conference.

Parents and other guardians often do not know what is going on until it is too late. Their teen has become isolated and angry, has skipped school, has been staying away all night and has possibly threatened to run away, Cooper said. She encouraged parents to call the National Missing and Exploited Children’s hotline if their child runs away.

Because sex trafficking often involves minors, educators are critical partners for law enforcement, social-service organizations and nonprofit groups working on trafficking issues, said Jeneé Littrell, vice principal at Chaparral High School in the Grossmont Union High School District. In the education field, she is a pioneer in addressing commercial sex exploitation of children and is developing a guide for the U.S. Department of Education that can be rolled out to school districts nationwide.
​

 

[dotr]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2013/04/08/20722306.html
"OTTAWA — A trio of teen girls accused of forcing others as young as 13 into prostitution pleaded not guilty to a string of charges Monday, including human trafficking, sexual assault, robbery and making child *advertiser censored*"

 

[ShyViolet]

"Victims step forward to help bust St. Paul sex trafficking ring"

For two years a St. Paul family allegedly posted hundreds of online ads selling sex with several women, some as young as 15, who were coerced, threatened and assaulted into a life authorities described as “modern day human slavery.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/202327981.html?refer=y

 

[dotr]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2013/04/22/20760776.html
"OTTAWA -- She thought she’d be getting ready to go to a party at the home of a new Facebook friend.

Instead, a pair of 15-year-old girls plastered her with makeup and stripped her naked for pictures. Then, they told her she was becoming an escort, a 17-year-old girl told police"

 

[momtective]

Kim was abducted in Dallas at 19. Entrapped in sex slavery, she dug deep and devised a plan to eventually escape. She shares her story and gives warnings in her story.

http://www.kltv.com/story/22082423/...campaign=Buffer%3A%2BKLTV%207%2Bon%2Bfacebook

Link to Eden movie trailer http://www.edenthefilm.com/index.html

 

[dotr]

Kim was abducted in Dallas at 19. Entrapped in sex slavery, she dug deep and devised a plan to eventually escape. She shares her story and gives warnings in her story.

http://www.kltv.com/story/22082423/...campaign=Buffer%3A%2BKLTV%207%2Bon%2Bfacebook

Link to Eden movie trailer http://www.edenthefilm.com/index.html

From your interesting link, thanks....


"College girls can actually be trafficked more than people think. Boys get trafficked, as well."

This type of crime is also more common that we think, Kim suggests and recommends being on-guard in new situations, with new people.


"When you meet anyone, whether it's a guy who's befriending you, or a girl who says, ‘Hey let's go party,' know your surroundings, know where you're at," she says.


If you are abducted she advises, "Try to get out but if you can't, remember your surroundings, where you were at. Remember if it was a rainy day. If you were blindfolded and can't see anything, listen. Pay attention to your other senses."

 

[dotr]

Facts and figures human trafficking 2012.Country by country, eye-opening.
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/192594.pdf

 

[imamaze]

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...cle_37302758-b728-11e2-a88b-0019bb2963f4.html
Elizabeth Smart speaks at human trafficking forum
Rescued kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart said May 1 she understands why some human trafficking victims don't run.
Smart said she "felt so dirty and so filthy" after she was raped by her captor, and she understands why someone wouldn't run "because of that alone."

 

[dotr]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2013/07/02/20945711.html
"An Australian man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for trafficking his son to pedophiles around the world.

Police said it appeared the boy, now eight, was adopted for the sole purpose of sexually exploiting him, according to media reports.
"
Mark J. Newton, 42, pleaded guilty Friday in Indiana court. Prosecutors accepted a plea because evidence was too graphic to show a jury

 

[Donamena]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2013/07/02/20945711.html
"An Australian man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for trafficking his son to pedophiles around the world.

Police said it appeared the boy, now eight, was adopted for the sole purpose of sexually exploiting him, according to media reports.
"
Mark J. Newton, 42, pleaded guilty Friday in Indiana court. Prosecutors accepted a plea because evidence was too graphic to show a jury

What is there to say? This is an abject & absolute horror!! Jail time?

 

[dotr]

Thinking he spells six with an e.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nat...phile-jailed-for-40-years-20130630-2p5da.html

"Standing before an American court convicted of the most heinous of child sex crimes, the double lives of Australian citizen Mark J. Newton and his long-term boyfriend Peter Truong were laid bare.

‘‘Being a father was an honour and a privilege that amounted to the best six years of my life,’’ the American-born Newton, 42, told the court.

Moments later Newton was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing the boy he and Truong, 36 from Queensland, had ‘‘adopted’’ after paying a Russian woman $8000 to be their surrogate in 2005.

Police believe the pair had adopted the boy ‘‘for the sole purpose of exploitation’’. The abuse began just days after his birth and over six years the couple travelled the world, offering him up for sex with at least eight men, recording the abuse and uploading the footage to an international syndicate known as the Boy Lovers Network"

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nat...or-40-years-20130630-2p5da.html#ixzz2Y2Vt3t76
bbm.

 

[dotr]

Big new child prostitution ring bust!!


http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/pr...ide-operation-targeting-underage-prostitution


"Washington, D.C. July 29, 2013

FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691

During the past 72 hours, the FBI; its local, state, and federal law enforcement partners; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) conducted Operation Cross Country VII, a three-day enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States. The operation included enforcement actions in 76 cities across 47 FBI divisions nationwide and led to the recovery of 105 children who were being victimized through prostitution. Additionally, 150 pimps were arrested on state and federal charges.

“Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America,” said Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes can happen anywhere, and the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitation accountable.”