SPOTLIGHT CASE Human Trafficking Awareness Thread

[TedMac]

http://www.wxii12.com/article/100-w...-with-many-men-traffickers-sentenced/19408797

100 women, girls branded, beaten, threatened, forced into sex with many men; traffickers sentenced

"GREENVILLE, S.C. —
Nine men were sentenced Monday for abusing, torturing and forcing more than 100 young women and underage girls into prostitution, prosecutors said.

The crimes were committed throughout the Southeast from 2014 through the summer of 2016.

Prosecutors said the men forced the victims, many of whom are minors, to have sex with numerous johns per night.

The sex traffickers used brutal tactics, including physical beatings, brandings, supplying and withholding of drugs, threats and various other forms of psychological manipulation in order to make the victims comply, prosecutors said.

“Over the past several years, we have seen gangs and what were formerly exclusively drug conspiracies expand into human trafficking to fund their organizations,” U. S. Attorney Beth Drake said..."

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=3]Human trafficking still a problem in MS, experts say[/h]MISSISSIPPI (WDAM) - Last year, Mississippi received a "B" rating on human trafficking from the prevention group Shared Hope International. That rating is an upgrade from the “D” rating the state was given in 2011.
According to Shared Hope International, the common age a child enters sex trafficking is between the ages of 14 and 16.
One woman, while she was not a human trafficking victim, says she has made it her duty to help those who finds themselves in that situation. The woman chose to remain anonymous.
“When I was 9 years old, there was not a time in my life when I did not remember being sexually assaulted by two relatives,” she said.
She said that as a child, she believed what her predators told her, saying “predators know how to control children."
“Predators are really smart,” she said. “They told me, 'If you tell, your daddy won’t love you. If you tell, we’re going to get in trouble, so you can’t tell. This is our secret,' and when you have that drilled into your head, that is your belief.”
The woman said she never told a soul until one of her abusers passed away. When asked why she didn’t tell, she said “it happened” and she wanted to move forward from the situation.


http://www.wdam.com/story/37726861/human-trafficking-still-a-problem-in-ms-experts-say

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]Operation Southern Impact II: Alabama Arrests 12 in Two-Day, Multi-State Child Exploitation Initiative[/h]

MONTGOMERY – Twelve individuals were arrested, and four children were rescued or identified as victims of child sexual exploitation this week during Operation Southern Impact II, a coordinated initiative involving eight states across the Southeast.



Operation Southern Impact II, which focused on individuals who sexually exploit children by using the Internet, was a joint effort consisting of 10 Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces tasked with combating the sexual exploitation of children. Law enforcement officials spent approximately four months to plan, and for two days executed search warrants, conducted undercover operations and made arrests in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. In all, 222 law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies participated, 38 of which are in or near Alabama.

http://www.elmoreautauganews.com/si...Day-Multi-State-Child-Exploitation-Initiative

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]76 arrested in 8-state child exploitation operation[/h]

The operation, which was coordinated by nine Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, focused on “persons who possess and distribute child *advertiser censored* and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the internet,” a GBI news release said.

Those arrested range in age from 17 — a Forsyth County student from Suwanee, Forsyth County Schools spokeswoman Jennifer Caracciolo confirmed to the Daily Post — to 72.

According to the GBI, the operation’s planning began about four months ago and “culminated in two days of investigative actions to include search warrant executions, undercover operations and arrests” in the eight states.

A total of 222 law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies participated in the operation.
In Georgia, 34 people were arrested, many of which involved the possession and/or distribution of child *advertiser censored*, the GBI said.
Six of those arrested in Georgia traveled for the purpose of meeting and having sex with a minor. Eight registered sex offenders were encountered in Georgia during the course of the operation.
In total, law enforcement officers in the southeastern states executed 136 search warrants and 100 “knock-and-talks,” during which 736 digital devices were previewed and 1,255 digital devices were seized. Of those devices seized, 235 were mobile phones, the GBI said.

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/lo...cle_6b53c8b7-85cb-5883-888d-efe528dc0eca.html

 

[dotr]

March 19 2018
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/...t-daughter-to-human-traffickers-it-baffles-me

[h=1]Mom tells MPs how she lost daughter to human traffickers: 'It baffles me'[/h]

HALIFAX — She was a strong, well-spoken young woman who came from a loving home in western Nova Scotia.

But it wasn't until Maddison Fraser had moved to Alberta in her late teens that her mother learned she had been lured there to work in the sex trade.

Jennifer Holleman of Yarmouth, N.S., told her agonizing story Monday to a federal committee that has just started travelling the country to learn what to do about combating human trafficking, which some are calling a growing form of modern slavery.

At one point, Holleman pulled two photos from her purse, one showing her daughter, then a healthy blonde-haired girl with a perfect, telegenic smile.

The other photo shows the same girl, but she is barely recognizable. Her face is bloated. Her short hair is ragged. And both of her eyes are blackened and almost swollen shut.

"They set her hair on fire," Holleman said, referring to the pimps who abused her. "They burned her with cigarettes and lighters. They beat her beyond recognition, and they all sexually assaulted her."

 

[cybervampira]

Hattiesburg man convicted of child sex trafficking
http://m.wlox.com/wlox/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:KtVD1ipj
OXFORD, MS (WDAM) - A Hattiesburg man could spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty Wednesday of human trafficking and transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution.

According to U.S. Attorney William Lamar, Raymorris Asencio, 31, will serve no fewer than 10 years in prison for the crimes. He’s also facing fines up to $250,000.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony from the victim Asencio transported across state lines to have sex for money.

The girl was just 16-years-old when Asencio used online ads to advertise her for sex in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, according to previous testimony from an agent with the FBI.

The jury also heard from the concerned citizens who originally reported the case to authorities in Oxford.

The agent said a woman became suspicious after seeing Asencio with the girl in a nail salon and later found out the teen was reported missing from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Lamar said the victim was rescued from a hotel in Baton Rouge, LA in February 2017. Asencio was arrested in Hattiesburg on Feb. 15, 2017.

“We must protect our children from predators like Asencio,” said Lamar. “I want to thank the private citizens in Oxford who noticed the minor and Asencio and notified the Oxford Police Department of their concerns for the minor's safety.”

“It is nearly unthinkable that trafficking a minor for prostitution still happens in Mississippi, but the jury in this case agreed that the charges against Asencio were warranted,” said Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge with the FBI.

 

[cybervampira]

NC Army reservist accused of advertising sex-trafficking victims on social media
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article206480684.html
An Army reservist from Charlotte is accused of sex-trafficking young women and a girl after providing them heroin and other drugs and then advertising them on the Backpage social media site.

Federal prosecutors accuse 28-year-old Xaver Boston of giving his victims drugs "to maintain control of their actions," according to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte on Thursday.

The indictment accuses Boston of "using violence" as punishment when he suspected his victims were withholding prostitution proceeds from him, lying to him or not following his directions.

[...]

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]App could help identify victim, offenders in human trafficking[/h]
[FONT=&quot]A facial-recognition app that could help to identify girls and women – as well as perpetrators – in human trafficking will get a boost from a local business.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Working with an anti-trafficking organization called Maiti Nepal, Samir Panthi and his company, Schpan Inc., have develop the facial-recognition app that could go a long way in assisting agents.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"These women are lied to," said Panthi, a Nepalese man on assignment in the Shoals with his company. "They are being led to believe they are getting good-paying jobs, but are ... sold as sex slaves."
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Schpan is a financial restructuring company that is assisting the Wright family as they close their Flying Carpets business in Lauderdale County.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Flying Carpets is auctioning its inventory this weekend and the family is contributing 10 percent of the proceeds from the event toward the Maiti Nepal and the facial-recognition project.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Panthi's firm has provided agents with smartphones with the app that allow agents to snap a quick photo when they suspect someone is a victim or offender. Often in those cases, the girls or women are young and are with an older man.

[/FONT]
http://www.timesdaily.com/news/loca...cle_df74c12a-e223-5e5e-a930-d289f2eeb4a0.html

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]Backpage Website Shut Down, Founder Charged With 93 Counts By FBI In Sealed Indictment[/h]

The co-founder of Backpage.com, a website synonymous with sex ads, was arrested by federal agents and charged with criminal offences, after law enforcement seized the website as part of an enforcement action by the FBI, according to a posting on the website on Friday.

Backpage.com co-founder Michael Lacey was arrested Friday Handout

Federal agents raided the Sedona home of Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on Friday. A Phoenix FBI official said there was “law enforcement activity” at Lacey's home, but referred further inquiries to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department said late on Friday that a court in Arizona ruled the case remains sealed, which puts any legal information under wraps. In the posting about the seizure, the department had originally said more information would be made public on Friday evening.

“Today, Backpage was shutdown. It’s a huge step. Now no child will be sold for sex through this website,” tweeted Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

Heitkamp helped draft legislation passed by the Senate last month that makes it easier for state prosecutors and sex-trafficking victims to sue social media networks, advertisers and others that fail to keep sex trafficking and exploitative materials off their platforms.

Defenders of Backpage say its right to host sex ads is protected by the First Amendment, and action against it could lead to other third party hosting sites to be subject to censorship.

President Donald Trump will sign the bill into law next week, said Heitkamp. The legislation, featured prominently in the popular Netflix documentary “I am Jane Doe,” amends the Communications Decency Act, which has shielded website operators from state criminal charges or civil liability if they facilitate sex ads or prostitution.

“Shutting down the largest online U.S. marketplace for sex trafficking will dramatically reduce the profitability of forcing people into the commercial sex trade, at least in the short term,” said Bradley Myles, chief executive of Polaris, an international anti-slavery group that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

http://www.newsweek.com/sex-ads-website-backpagecom-co-founder-charged-after-fbi-raid-876333

 

[Tjk2201]

Myrtle Beach is notorious for human trafficking. I know a rescue house was set up in Charleston SC last year to help victims and recently another rescue house has opened in Greenville SC. I was told the house in Greenville only accepts women and that the house has been full since it has opened. There are a couple billboards about human trafficking in Greenville.

 

[Bit of hope]

Yes!!!! Backpage is torn down.....

 

[Bit of hope]

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/buy-child-10-hours/story?id=5326508 Maybe posted already....

 

[Bit of hope]

https://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-trafficking-prices/


An example Girls from Mozambique: $2

We have to ask, what is the bigger picture? What is wrong with us (we people of the world?)



This is soooo shocking....

 

[dotr]

https://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-trafficking-prices/


An example Girls from Mozambique: $2

We have to ask, what is the bigger picture? What is wrong with us (we people of the world?)



This is soooo shocking....

People wonder why HT seems to be increasing?...

[h=2]Human Trafficking Victims Sold Into Slavery[/h]

• Babies in China: $7,800
• Babies in Indonesia: $160 to $250
• Children in Ghana: $50 to parent, then $300 to trafficker
• Children in India: $45, versus $350 for buffalo
• Children in Mali: $600 for child soldier
• Children in Thailand: $25 typical price to “rent” a child beggar
• Children in the United Kingdom: $25,000
• Girl in India: $24
• Girls from Romania: $3,000 to $6,000
• Girls in Bangladesh: $250
• Girls in Kenya: $600 for Girls between the age of 10 to 15
• Girls from Mozambique: $2
• Person in Canada: $4,879 paid by pimp to trafficker
• Roma Child Bride: $270,000
• Teenage girls in Iraq: $5,000 for Virgins, $2.500 for Non-Virigns
• Teenage girls in Ontario, Canada: $5,989 for a girl from Quebec
• Virgin Child in Cambodia: $500 to $800
• Virgin Girl in Medellin, Colombia: $2,600 in online auction
• Women from North Korea (by age): $1,066 (20s), $761 (30s), $457 (40s)
• Women from Vietnam to China: $11,800 to purchase wife

 

[Bit of hope]

Still have to wonder...what happened to all the former members?

 

[Bit of hope]

Do you really want to know what it's like? keep on digging....

 

[Bit of hope]

Do you really want to go there? Is your stomach strong enough?

 

[dotr]

Myrtle Beach is notorious for human trafficking. I know a rescue house was set up in Charleston SC last year to help victims and recently another rescue house has opened in Greenville SC. I was told the house in Greenville only accepts women and that the house has been full since it has opened. There are a couple billboards about human trafficking in Greenville.

http://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/45-arrests-made-in-sc-sex-crimes-sting/101-524536509
March 2, 2018

[h=1]45 Arrests Made in SC Sex Crimes Sting[/h]

Thirty-one individuals identified in connection to the operation are still being sought.

“They are still out there. They are still looking for your kids,” Lewis said. "This was to target and identify sex predators preying on the youth of our community.”

Lewis said the circumstances of each case were painful to learn.

In one case, a man carrying a sexually-transmitted disease was specifically looking to transfer his disease to a 14-year-old.

“He wanted to ruin a child’s life,” Lewis said. “He wanted to actually give a child a disease.”

Another case involved a suspect who wanted to cannibalize the victim, Lewis said.

“Depravity doesn’t even describe this,” he said.

Another suspect arrested indicated he had come from Myrtle Beach with the intention of kidnapping a child to take back to the coast to sell her, Lewis said.

 

[Bit of hope]

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nederland/...rd-verspreid-via-internet-politiek-wil-verbod

 

[Bit of hope]

A manual of almost a thousand pages describes in detail how you can misuse children unnoticed. The 'pedo manual' stimulates pedophiles to perform sexual acts. The House of Representatives demands a ban.

For more than ten years the manual has been on the dark web, the hidden part of the internet. This is shown by research by RTL Nieuws. The handbook is actively shared in forums for pedophiles and supplemented with new tips, advice and experiences.

The book has been used by various Dutch pedophiles, the police confirm. It is by far the most comprehensive and dangerous manual that pedophiles can have in their hands, but according to the Public Prosecution the work is not punishable.

The pedo manual

Note: the following texts can be experienced as shocking.

The book describes in an almost pedagogical way how you gain the trust of children. With ready-made sentences and reward techniques, pedophiles learn how to keep children secrets. "Most children love sex, and wait until you seduce them," says the manual.A manual of almost a thousand pages describes in detail how you can misuse children unnoticed. The 'pedo manual' stimulates pedophiles to perform sexual acts. The House of Representatives demands a ban.

For more than ten years the manual has been on the dark web, the hidden part of the internet. This is shown by research by RTL Nieuws. The handbook is actively shared in forums for pedophiles and supplemented with new tips, advice and experiences.

The book has been used by various Dutch pedophiles, the police confirm. It is by far the most comprehensive and dangerous manual that pedophiles can have in their hands, but according to the Public Prosecution the work is not punishable.

The pedo manual

Note: the following texts can be experienced as shocking.

The book describes in an almost pedagogical way how you gain the trust of children. With ready-made sentences and reward techniques, pedophiles learn how to keep children secrets. "Most children love sex, and wait until you seduce them," says the manual.More