Porn Addiction Article

Roaming around my Facebook page this morning, I stumbled across a page that I follow; Pornography Harms. This particular morning they had an article about sexual addiction published by the Daily Beast regarding the epidemic number of American's being diagnosed as sex addicts. They attribute much of this increase to the internet and the ease of accessibility people have to this growing industry. And, when the pornography isn't enough, then prostitution is an option and when 'of age' prostitutes aren't able to give the john that emotional high- trafficked children are at risk. I'd highly recommend you read the article, it isn't very long, it's informative and can be found here.


I think last part of the article, included in bold below, is the epitome of the problem- being wanted. We're a culture of isolated individuals and have become incredibly independent. We're all looking for something, in all the wrong places.

Many are likely to find that “sex addiction isn’t really about sex,” as Weiss puts it; it’s about “being wanted.”

X3LA’s Steven Luff says, “Sex is the perfect match for that. ‘I matter right now. In this moment, I am loved.’ In that sense, an entire culture, an entire nation is looking for meaning.”

To any of you currently suffering from a pornography addiction or feelings of isolation in your search for happiness- Jesus is waiting for you. He is the epitome of the unconditional love that we all so desperately desire. He really does make life so much better here in our temporary world and He is the meaning that many of us are looking for in our lives.

Yogis Against Trafficking

Yogis Unite to Put an End to Sex Trafficking ~ Heather Snyder

Originally published by our elephriends over at Yoga Modern.
**********************************************************************************

Photo Credit: Norman Jean Roy

Last week, Nick Kristof (NY Times journalist and co- author of Half the Sky) followed Somaly Mam, a prosecutor and a dozen or so police officers toting AK-47s on a raid of a brother in Cambodia. Reading his live tweets as the raid progressed, I was reminded, once again, why Somaly Mam is such a hero to me. At the risk of her own life and her family’s safety, she continues to fight for victims’ lives and risk everything she has to save girls from the same fate she was dealt.

This particular brothel was owned by a Cambodian military officer and his wife. Once they saw that a prosecutor and team was coming for them, they called in armed soldiers to protect the brothel and the brothel owners. After what seemed like a horrifying showdown, the brothel owners were taken to the police station. About 6 girls were rescued, the youngest, Kristof said, appeared to be about 13 years old. There were girls missing that they assumed must have been hidden from them by the brothel owners. The terrifed girls were comforted by social workers while the raid continued.

Although the brothel owners were eventually brought in by the police, it is unknown as to whether they will be let go or actually prosecuted. They were told this brothel had 10 rooms for sex, all rooms that locked from the outside. It is hard to grasp that this was all playing out while we, in the US, we’re sleeping peacefully in our beds.

Somaly is fearless in her work, rescuing girls from brothels and of nurturing them back to life with her love, compassion, and strength. She has helped save 7,000 girls from these brothels and is helping them to recover and reintegrate back into society. She has safe houses throughout Southeast Asia where girls live, learn, and receive education to take out in the world. Most importantly, the girls receive the love, kindness and tenderness they never received as children. Here they are able to begin the healing process in a safe, loving environment.

The most extraordinary thing about Somaly Mam is that she not only rescues these girls and nurtures them back to life, she teaches them about love and forgiveness. She believes holding onto the pain and anger is damaging to one’s self and says that to move on and become an empowered, loving leader, forgiveness is a necessity.

Somaly herself has been through pure hell, and yet she is a calm force in the world who meditates daily and believes you have to love yourself fully before you can be of service and truly love another. She is radiant. Being in her presence for a few days last month, it was sometimes hard for me to believe what she went through. She is literally glowing with peace, love and beauty inside and out.

Somaly Mam is my inspiration for getting involved in the work to end human trafficking.

After I read her gripping and inspiring memoir, The Road To Lost Innocence, I, along with other NYC yogis in the Off the Mat community, were determined to help and get involved with her organization, The Somaly Mam Foundation. Yoga Freedom Project was born out of that desire to get involved. The Somaly Mam Foundation was interested in bringing their message to the yoga community and now yogis around the world are raising awareness of sex trafficking.

Yoga Freedom Project is a January 2012 global month of yoga to raise awareness and funding to bring an end to sex trafficking.

With Yoga Freedom Project, we are asking yogis and studios all over the world to have donation based classes, sell jewelry made by survivors as well as Somaly Mam’s memoir, and engage their local communities in whatever they feel called to do to raise awareness about the issue of sex trafficking. So far we have studios in 15 states and 5 countries on board. In New York, we are having a 108 Sun Salutation Celebration at the end of our month of fundraising with Elena Brower, Dana Flynn, Alan Finger, Cyndi Lee, Jodie Rufty, and many other talented teachers. We are excited to have an impact with this month and show the world just how powerful, loving and strong our global yoga community is.

Looking at what happens to these young girls is horrifying, totally heart breaking. It is much easier to turn away from it and hope someone else can face it and help put and end to it. I have had people say to me, “Oh that is so awful. I can’t even bring myself to think about it” and that is the end of that. Well I say we must think about it. We have an obligation to look at the horrific reality of sex trafficking and those of us whose heart it breaks the most may just be the best people to help put an end to it.

I have always felt such pain and and terror when I read, see and continue to learn about this. On a very small scale, through my own difficult childhood experience with a man taking advantage of my innocence for his pleasure, these girls’ and terror resonate with me. Their horror, however, is a thousand times worse than anything I can even imagine. And as much as I want to turn away and run when I read their stories, I know this is my work to do. I won’t turn away from it.

Through my work with Off the Mat, I’ve come to believe that if we look deeply at what breaks our heart, we will find exactly where we are supposed to be serving in the world. Perhaps that is exactly where we can be most effective if we allow ourselves to feel that heartbreak and we don’t turn away.

What breaks your heart? What do you read about or see that makes you want to turn and run in the other direction? Perhaps that is exactly what you should be walking towards. Perhaps that is where you can be of greatest service.

Heather Snyder is a regular contributor for Yoga Modern and Regional Leader for Off The Mat Into The World in NYC. She is a conscious activist, birth doula, and teacher of The Alexander Technique, pilates, and yoga. She brings together communities of inspired, empowered, like minded people to explore possibilities of what a community can create together. Heather is committed to the work of bringing awareness of sex trafficking to the yoga community as well as to mainstream America. In January 2012, Off The Mat NYC is partnering with the Somaly Mam Foundation to launch the Yoga Freedom Project. This project is a monthlong campaign in the yoga community that will raise awareness and funding to put an end to human trafficking. If you would like to get involved, you can read more on the OTM-NYC website or email Heather directly at offthematnyc@gmail.com.


No emphasis was added by Called to Rescue, this blog posting is what appears on the webpage of where it was found. To view where the article was retrieved, click here.

Oregon's Reputation

Underage sex trade and the border: Group works to give trafficking in Oregon red light

Elizabeth Hovde, Oregonian columnist

Posted: 12/03/2011 10:00 AM

As bordering states, Oregon and Washington think a lot about comparative business and tax advantages and disadvantages. For example, business owners in Clark County rightly worry that people shop south of the border to save money on sales tax. And Oregonians now have to worry that Washington's new liquor law soon will have people in the Portland area and beyond heading north to stock up on booze.

The latest state-line issue? A report released last week shows Oregon should be worried it is sending an "open for business" message to an industry no state wants: sex trafficking of minors.

The industry is thriving where it can, and it is wrecking lives. Picture your own teenage or preteen daughter or a friend's daughter when I say that the industry is wrecking lives -- that's whose lives we are talking about. Putting a known face on the victim allows you proper perspective.

Oregon and Washington's differing grades on Shared Hope International's Protect Innocence Initiative are something Oregon should be concerned about. Oregon received a "D" and Washington a "B," using 40 components compiled by Shared Hope in partnership with the American Center for Law and Justice. (ACLJ assisted in a comprehensive analysis of each state's existing laws.)

One of the biggest differences between the two states was how they addressed demand. In Oregon, get caught having sex with a minor, and you can receive a sentence of as little as seven days on a second offense and your crime is considered a misdemeanor. In Washington, a first offense greets you with 21 months at the minimum for a Class B felony. The fine is relatively high in Oregon, however, at $10,000 for a first offense.

As Shared Hope's founder, former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, told me, "Rich? Shop in Oregon!" If you have enough cash to get you out of an embarrassing bind, Oregon's your place.

Because buying sex with a minor in Washington brings a greater risk, pimps will wisely offer customers their "product" across the state line. Portland's tolerance for sex shops and strip clubs already helps create unhealthy appetites for what is considered forbidden sex, putting it at a disadvantage. Having a price tag but no real legal deterrent for buying underage sex adds to the repulsive and dangerous problem facing our kids.

The good news is that the Protect Innocence Initiative, a grading system of 50 states plus Washington, D.C., is more of a road map than it is a scold. See it online at www.sharedhope.org and lead your state lawmaker and attorney general there as well, as they have the ability to try to change the legal landscape for buyers in Oregon. Smith says, "Within each state is a unique framework of laws. And under the 10th amendment, that is how it should be. With the Protected Innocence Initiative, it is our hope and intention that we will strengthen the legal framework in states across the nation to weave a fabric of laws that does not allow one child in this nation to fall through."

On Thursday, Smith released the findings of this yearlong research. She told me producing the report was like giving birth. And if you go through the organization's state-by-state findings, you get the labor.

Shared Hope was founded in 1998 to rescue and restore women and children in crisis near and far. It strives to prevent trafficking, to rescue and restore people trapped in commercial sex, and to exact justice for being part of the supply or demand. Encouragingly, if Oregon simply makes the law tougher on a part of society no one should want to stick up for -- those who knowingly or unknowingly pay for sex with minors -- it can improve. And if the rest of us can make others aware that often the so-called "prostitutes" in Oregon are young girls or women who were forced into the "profession" all-too young and in fear, we could tackle the demand side of this problem along with them. After all, what "good" person would feel OK about buying sex with someone tricked or forced into the industry -- a child or not? It's time people who consider themselves "good" know this is the reality so they can be part of the solution.

Only four states received a "B," the highest grade given this year. Let's make getting straight A's a clear border issue.

For original source, click here.

Groundbreaking Case in Sex Trafficking

December 1, 2011 11:09 AM

Suing Lawrence Taylor "next frontier" in fighting sex trafficking, says expert

By Julia Dahl

(CBS) NEW YORK - On Monday afternoon, 18-year-old Cristina Fierro stood before a crowd of reporters at a Manhattan hotel and announced that she was suing former football star Lawrence Taylor.

Fierro, previously known only as "C.F.," is the young woman who, at age 16, was allegedly forced by a man named Rasheed Davis to meet Taylor in a hotel room for sex on May 5, 2010.

Taylor was initially charged with rape, but in January 2011 he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors instead, and was sentenced to six years probation.

Davis, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges and is serving a seven year prison term. According to the U.S. Attorney's sentencing statement, Davis beat Fierro when she said she didn't want to have sex for money, and took the $300 that Mr. Taylor gave her at the end of the act.

"I am glad Mr. Taylor was prosecuted," said Fierro on Monday, reading from a statement. "But I feel as though he should have gone to jail to think about what he has done to me."

Standing beside Fierro was celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the young woman.

"Lawrence Taylor pled guilty to patronizing a prostitute and sexual misconduct," she said. "She was not a prostitute, but was instead a child victim of sex trafficking."

Allred announced that Fierro is bringing two lawsuits - one under a local administrative code that allows a victim to sue someone who has committed a "crime of violence motivated by gender," and the other, under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which defines any child under 18 who is induced into the sex trade as a victim of sex trafficking.

Allred said she believes this case is "the first civil lawsuit of its kind on behalf of a child victim of sex trafficking against a buyer of a commercial sex act with that child."

Seeking justice in civil court for sexual abuse or trafficking is not new: Just yesterday, one of Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims announced he is suing the former coach; and on Nov. 10, a Miami jury returned a $100 million verdict against Rev. Neil Doherty on behalf of a man he allegedly drugged and raped as a child.

In 2009, a group of Mexican farm workers who had allegedly been trafficked into unpaid labor in Colorado won a $7.8 million in a civil suit against the people who, according to the Denver Post, "brought them to America and forced them to live as virtual prisoners as they worked off their debts."

But experts we spoke to said they believed Allred was correct when she said that Fierro may be the first victim of sex trafficking to ever sue the buyer of the illicit services she provided.

"Men who buy sex from children have this sense they won't be punished, that they'll get away from it," says Bradley Myles, the Executive Director of Polaris Project, a non-profit organization that works to combat human trafficking and modern-day slavery. "These types of cases are starting to send a clear message that you're going to get prosecuted or sued. They are creating a paradigm shift in how we think about children in the sex trade."

And while the suit may be unprecedented, it is, perhaps, the logical next step in a long movement to name, understand and combat what used to be called child or teen prostitution, but is now known in law enforcement circles as "domestic minor sex trafficking." The theory, say advocates and attorneys, is that the so-called pimps who run underage boys and girls for sex on the streets - and between the states - do so through the same kind of violence and intimidation used by people who bring women from foreign countries into the U.S. Thus, they should be called traffickers, and their "prostitutes," trafficking victims.

"The majority of sex trafficking [in the U.S.] happens domestically, between states, not from other countries," says Jeff Dion, Director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association.

According to Kathleen Kim, an attorney and professor at Loyola Law School who has represented victims of trafficking, one reason that there are almost no cases of victims suing their traffickers is that being forced to sell sex is a uniquely traumatic experience that people are reluctant to relive, even in criminal court.

"Most victims would rather just put it behind them," says Kim, who co-authored a booklet entitled "Civil Litigation on Behalf of Victims of Human Trafficking."

Kim says the Fierro case represents a "novel" use of the federal anti-trafficking law - one that has been made possible by changes in 2003 and 2008 which allowed for civil remedies for victims and expanded the pool of defendants who could be sued.

Of course, the facts of Fierro's civil case have yet to be established definitively. According to Allred, Taylor has 30 days to answer the lawsuit.

Lawrence Taylor's attorney Arthur Aidala called the allegations set out in Allred's statement Monday - for example, that Fierro's face was visibly bloody and bruised when she met Taylor in the hotel - "a fairytale."

He told Crimesider that he has a sworn deposition from Fierro's former roommate that contradicts much of what is laid out in Allred's version of events.

"The truth is very ugly for the plaintiff," says Aidala. "We've gone to great lengths not to disparage this girl. Now she has a lawyer exploiting her."

But no matter who wins, the case is, as Bradley Myles of the Polaris Project puts it, "groundbreaking."

"The next frontier in fighting sex trafficking in the U.S. is going to be these civil tools," says Myles.

Brian O'Dwyer, the attorney who helped the family of missing New York City boy Etan Patz sue Jose Ramos for wrongful death - despite the fact that Patz's body was never found, said that the standard of proof is much lower in civil as opposed to criminal court.

"Most of the time it's fairly easy to get a judgment," said O'Dwyer. "The problem is collecting on the judgment."

Original source for article found here.

Eugene, Oregon

INET undercover prostitution sting leads to arrest of Eugene man

Eugene (KMTR) An undercover prostitution sting operation conducted by members of the Lane County Interagency Narcotics Team (INET) led to the arrest of a 35-year old Eugene man for his role in trafficking a minor to an undercover detective. Detectives are attempting to locate additional victims and potential co-conspirators in the ongoing investigation.

According to Oregon State Police Sergeant Erik Fisher, on December 5, 2011 INET detectives arrested David Adam Zimmer, age 35, after he escorted a 15-year old female to a local area motel. Zimmer allegedly agreed to provide an illegal controlled substance and the underage victim to the undercover detective in exchange for an undisclosed amount of money.

Zimmer was lodged in the Lane County Jail on the following charges:

* Compelling Prostitution

* Four counts of Rape in the Third Degree

* Unlawful Possession and Delivery of a Controlled Substance

Zimmer also faces criminal charges of Delivery of a Controlled Substance to a Minor, Using a Minor in a Controlled Substance Offense, Endangering the Welfare of a Minor, and Contributing to the Sexual Delinquency of a Minor.

The juvenile female was released to her parents.

INET detectives seized from Zimmer and the juvenile approximately 14 grams of psilocybin mushrooms along with additional evidence related to the investigation.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation, or illegal drug activity, is asked to call the INET tip line at (541) 682-6266.

Picture of arrested man and source of publication are found here.

Down South...

Pimp sentenced for trafficking S.C. teen

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011, 10:48am

AUSTELL, Ga. -- A pimp known as Candyman was sentenced in federal court Monday on charges of sex trafficking involving a teenage girl.

A judge sentenced 30-year-old Chesire Martinez Robinson of Austell to 17 years and five months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He must also register as a sex offender and pay $14,440 in restitution.

According to information presented in court, "Candyman" brought a 16-year-old girl to Georgia from her South Carolina hometown in mid-2009. He knew the victim was a minor, but still forced her to prostitute herself at a truck stop and various hotels in the Atlanta area. Robinson reportedly earned more than $14,000 from his victim's sex acts, which she performed six nights a week for hours at a time.

"For nearly two months, this predator sexually exploited a 16-year-old girl for his financial gain," said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. "The crime he committed deserves the 17-year prison sentence imposed on him by the court."

Robinson was convicted of the charges against him on Sept. 14.

For more information about the U.S. Department of Justice's fight against human trafficking, visit www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

Original source located here.

Nebraska is doing something about trafficking!

Nebraska is doing something about human trafficking!! Original Source found here.

Activists against human trafficking urge legislature to explore the problem

By Dan Holtmeyer

Published: Monday, December 5, 2011

Updated: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 00:12

Human trafficking reaches into Nebraska, even Lincoln.

That was the message yesterday afternoon, when several dozen Nebraskan officials, professors and ordinary citizens testified to the State Legislature's Judiciary Committee to explore the movement, trade and exploitation of human beings for profit within Nebraska's borders, as well as the state's options for fighting it.

The hearing was meant as a kind of crash-course on human trafficking and a time to gather ideas to address it, said Sen. Amanda McGill of Lincoln, who's taken a particular interest in the issue. It wasn't the committee's first encounter with the subject, as the senators had heard testimony on a related, ultimately doomed bill earlier this year introduced by Sen. Mark Christensen.

"I think most of us had our eyes widely opened through that hearing," McGill said. "This is a very worthy cause for us to investigate."

And as law enforcement officers and nonprofit advocates often lament when discussing human trafficking, the first task remained convincing people that such trafficking actually happens in the Midwest.

"It is always kind of a constant thing that's going on," Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes told the several state senators before him. "It occurs. It continues to occur."

Human trafficking is an umbrella term for a multibillion-dollar international industry, a vast network that feeds the global demand for people for agriculture, construction or sex. Several nonprofit organizations, including the Washington, D.C.-based Polaris Project, refer to human trafficking as modern-day slavery, and estimate its victims number about 27 million worldwide.

The U.S., Midwest and state of Nebraska are all pieces of that network as well, several testifiers said Monday. Interstate 80, for example, passes through Omaha and Lincoln on its way from San Francisco to New York City and is an ideal conduit for traffickers.

"Overall, there has been a rise in human trafficking victims in the United States," said Joy Panigabutra-Roberts, an assistant professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. Panigabutra-Roberts works with several other professors for UNL's annual Human Trafficking Conference.

Panigabutra-Roberts listed locations of recently reported cases: Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., and Omaha.

"Human trafficking is one of the biggest money-making schemes in the world," said Al Riskowski, executive director of the Lincoln-based Nebraska Family Council, a Christian organization that counts human trafficking among the issues it works to address. "Sen. McGill, thank you so much for doing this."

Hayes and several other law enforcement officials described how often human trafficking had appeared in the line of duty. The connection can be difficult to prove because of uncooperative witnesses, they said, but prostitution, escort services and strip clubs often function as channels of exploitation and human trafficking.

As an example of exploitation of vulnerable people, prostitution bears the hallmarks of trafficking, said Tom Casady, Lincoln's public safety director and former police chief. The women often have extensive histories of sexual assault, rape and running away from home, he said, often ending up addicted to drugs and the perfect target for exploitation.

The average age of entry into sex work is about 13, which automatically qualifies as human trafficking and is usually coerced, other officials pointed out.

"None have said they intentionally and willingly sought a life of prostitution," said Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the FBI's Omaha field office who also works in the Innocence Lost Task Force, which focuses on sexual exploitation of children. "They saw no other alternatives."

Other forms of trafficking also leave their mark on Nebraska, said Leticia Bonifas from the Nebraska Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition. "The sex trafficking of women and children is huge, but we have to look at labor trafficking," she said. Bonifas pointed to meatpacking plants and farms as common destinations for laborers and immigrants who can be promised a good job and instead get exploitation, extortion or otherwise illegal working conditions.

Labor trafficking often blends into sex trafficking when farm or store owners demand something extra on the side, she said, citing hundreds of victims who came to the coalition for help.

Several of those who testified also focused on potential solutions for the legislature to consider, including stiffer penalties for traffickers and customers. Despite Nebraska's recent failing grade for its trafficking laws from Washington state-based group Shared Hope International, Sen. Steve Lathrop joined McGill and other committee members in asking, "Where's the hole in our laws?"

Panigabutra-Roberts was ready with a dozen points of action for the senators, including commissioning a statewide study of the problem, creating a state task force devoted to it and promoting the National Human Trafficking hotline.

"There's such a lack of research on this issue that everything you hear is hearsay," another UNL professor, Sriyani Tidball, told the committee before challenging them to create a slave-free Nebraska.

Casady stressed training for law enforcement to help officers find and help trafficking victims, and called for increased services for victims once they're found. Such local services, he said, are "woefully underfunded," yet he has seen them work.

After the hearing, McGill said she would be formulating potential bills for the legislature from the material gathered at the hearing. She wasn't certain of its eventual form but emphatically affirmed she would introduce at least one bill next year.

What's important is that some action is taken here at home, Tidball told the committee.

"Until we can protect our kids in Nebraska right here," she said, "we can't get anywhere."

Labor Trafficking, Hawaii and Washington

This article is a bit older, but it sheds light on the problem of Labor Trafficking. You see, human trafficking is the overall name for such subcategories like sex, labor, soldier and organ trafficking. Regardless of they, they're all crimes against humanity and Called to Rescue is determined to fight this social injustice on all fronts and from every angle possible.

To read the article at it's original source, click here.

Company accused of human trafficking at Wash., Hawaii farms

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press Published: Apr 20, 2011 at 12:10 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal agency has sued a California-based labor contractor and farms in Washington and Hawaii alleging discrimination against more than 200 Thai workers in what was called its largest human trafficking case in agriculture.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits Tuesday against Beverly Hills-based Global Horizons Inc. and six farms in Hawaii and two in Washington.

Global Horizons lured workers from 2003 to 2007 with promises of steady jobs and agricultural visas but confiscated their passports and threatened to deport them if they complained, the agency said in a statement.

It said workers faced abuse and threats while being provided dilapidated housing.

The agency is seeking back pay and damages.

Global Horizons could not be immediately reached for comment because the phone numbers listed on its website were not working.

Thai workers at times were forced to live in rat-infested rooms where many workers did not have beds, the federal agency said.

They were forbidden from leaving, assaulted by supervisors and isolated from non-Thai workers who appeared to be working under different conditions, the agency said in its statement.

"All workers - foreign and U.S. - are protected under the law and have the right to complain of such employment abuses which poison the moral fabric of our society," said Olophius Perry, district director for the commission's Los Angeles district office.

Global Horizons recruited Thai workers to come to the United States under the federal government's agricultural guest worker program, known as H-2A.

Six Global Horizons recruiters were indicted last year in federal court in Hawaii on charges of luring hundreds of workers from Thailand with promises of lucrative jobs before confiscating their passports, failing to honor their labor contracts and threatening to have them sent home.

The indictment said Global Horizons supervisors charged impoverished Thai workers between $9,000 and $26,500 in recruitment fees to secure jobs in the United States.

They threatened to send the workers back to Thailand when they complained about a lack of work and poor living conditions, knowing many would be afraid to return because of the substantial debts they undertook to finance the trip, court papers said.

23 Year Old, Sentenced 20 Years

Man, 23, gets 20 years for child sex trafficking

By Associated Press Published: Oct 27, 2011 at 6:33 AM PST

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A 23-year-old man who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor was sentenced Wednesday in Portland to 20 years in federal prison.

The U.S. attorney's office says the case against Jefferson Bryant Davis involved a 13-year-old girl who turned herself into authorities last year while working in Los Angeles as a prostitute.

She said Davis forced her to work as a prostitute in Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada.

The case was brought through the Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force and investigated by the FBI and Salem police.

Original Source: Click here

$7,000.... ?!

This was posted yesterday, right click here for the original source.

Mom arrested for trying to sell baby for $7,000

By NBCMiami.com

A Miami mom was arrested and charged with trying to sell her 8-month-old son for $7,000, authorities said Monday.

Kenia Quiala Bosque, 30, was arrested Sunday after an investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Authorities say Bosque, of Hialeah, had arranged to meet a Monroe County man in Miami on Saturday to exchange the child for the money.

When the Monroe County Sheriff's Office received a tip about the transaction, the FDLE arranged to have an undercover agent be at the baby handoff.

NBCMiami.com: Miami mom busted for trying to sell baby

When the Monroe County Sheriff's Office received a tip about the transaction, the FDLE arranged to have an undercover agent be at the baby handoff.

But after Bosque failed to show up, and fearing for the child's well-being, deputies and agents went to her home and had enough evidence to make an arrest, authorities said.

"We are just so glad we were able to obtain this information in time to intervene before anything could happen to endanger this child," Sheriff Bob Peryam said in a statement.

Bosque was booked into Miami-Dade County jail and was being held on $5,000 bond Monday. It was unknown whether she has an attorney.

Her children were placed in the custody of relatives, authorities said.

Clark County

This article is a great depiction of what happens right here in the NW Region. Focusing on Clark County, in the Vancouver, Washington area, as well as highlighting Portland, Oregon, this article shines the light on such sad, painful and awful happenings within our community. As always, look for the bold lettering that I add- those are what I consider hard hitting pieces of information. It's a great article (for the subject matter).

Right click the link for the article at it's source.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/nov/15/child-sex-trafficking-on-rise-crime-upcoming-indus/

Child sex trafficking on rise in Clark County

Victim recounts nightmarish experience

By Laura McVicker
Columbian Staff Reporter

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Jennifer knows the everyday details of being a teenager in rural Clark County: keeping up with grades, answering to a protective mother and sneaking out to college-age parties.

She also knows the grisly life of selling herself on Southeast 82nd Avenue in Portland — for a pimp she thought was her first love.

Just 13 when she met him at a party in Vancouver, Jennifer was attracted to his charisma, good looks and sense of style. He was older — 18 or 19 — which made it all the more exciting, she recalled.

For the first two months, he was sweet and charming. One day, though, things changed.

“I’ve done all these nice things for you. Now it’s time to pay me back,” he told her.

She first told him no, but he threatened to kill her and her family if she didn’t comply. So she reluctantly agreed and entered a world of prostitution, cocaine and strip clubs.

A minor and the victim of numerous sex crimes, Jennifer’s identity is not being disclosed; her first name was changed for her protection because her pimp is still at large and the criminal investigation against him is still open. She represents one of dozens of victims of child sex trafficking in Clark County, a crime believed to be rampant in Portland but one that’s only gained attention here in the past few years.

Over the past three years, police in Clark County have seen child sex trafficking emerge as one of the major crimes to watch. It’s no longer just a Portland problem. Fueled by online ads, johns and girls will routinely travel between Vancouver and Portland for “dates,” making the crime a regional issue.

In Clark County, police estimate about 50 children are being sold for sex, compared with 150 to 200 in Portland. Those estimates could be lower than the reality, police said, because many victims don’t self-report.

“If you would have asked me three years ago about child sex trafficking (in Clark County), I would say, ‘You’re crazy,’” said Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Duncan Hoss. “I was pretty amazed at how big the prostitution world was in general. It’s really the upcoming industry.”

Narrow escape

Those who fall victim to child sex trafficking don’t all fit the cliche of being runaways or foster children, police said.

Another girl, Brianna, narrowly escaped being trafficked in December 2009. A star athlete and honor student, she met her would-be pimp when he stopped at the restaurant she worked at in La Center.

Initially persuading her to come to Seattle to party with college-age boys, he had other plans in mind. He coaxed her to dance two nights at a strip club and then hand over most of the money to him. When he urged her to come to Arizona with him to make more money selling her body, Brianna’s ex-boyfriend intervened, alerting her family and law enforcement.

Brianna, now a 19-year-old college student, said the ordeal made a lasting impression on how she can trust people now.

“It’s hard to befriend anyone my age,” she said. “They just don’t get it. It’s just like I have had to grow up a lot in the last few years.”

Six months prior to Brianna’s ordeal, Hoss and Vancouver police Sgt. John Chapman said they were blind to the problem of trafficking. That’s when, at the nudging of Portland police detectives, police conducted a special investigation of hotels along Chkalov Drive in east Vancouver. Expecting to uncover a drug ring, instead they found evidence of human trafficking.

Chapman and Hoss dug more. They underwent a training session that year put on by the Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force and began meeting with Shared Hope International, a Vancouver organization that combats global sexual slavery. Then, that October, Vancouver police participated in the FBI’s sting, Operation Cross Country, along with other law enforcement agencies in the metro area.

The results were surprising. Vancouver authorities recovered two juvenile sex workers — the same number as found in Portland.

The figures, however, weren’t surprising to Portland police.

“We encounter them significantly moving between Portland and Vancouver,” said Portland police Sgt. Mike Geiger. “It’s a very easy drive from Vancouver to the Portland area. It’s not a static kind of circumstance.”

With this new awareness has come harsher penalties for pimps and johns in Washington. In 2010, Linda Smith, former congresswoman and founder of Shared Hope International, successfully championed a bill to more than double the sentencing range for promotion of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, from 21 to 44 months to 93 to 318 months. For buyers of sex, the penalties increased to 21 to 144 months, up from one to 68 months under former sentencing guidelines.

Still, police and civic leaders say there’s much more to be done, namely resources for the juveniles.

There are no safe houses for victims in Washington or Oregon, something crucial for girls trying to escape the prostitution lifestyle and the grip of their pimp.

“We’re making steps,” Hoss said. “We’re just not quite there with the whole package yet.”

Then and now

Chapman and Hoss said that before their training, detectives weren’t aware of the warning signs of trafficking. They’d received reports about frequent runaway girls, often traveling with older men, but wouldn’t view it as a possible child sex trafficking case.

Other occurrences, like a girl receiving expensive jewelry or other lavish gifts from an older man, also weren’t thought of as warning signs. Now, Chapman said, detectives and patrol officers know what to look for.

Chapman also investigates the crime by trolling online ads of sex workers. His department also receives referrals from juvenile probation counselors and from organizations such as the YWCA Clark County and Oregon Sexual Assault Resource Center.

A boost for law enforcement was the addition of Kay Vail, a Clark County juvenile probation counselor now fully devoted to child sex trafficking cases, thanks to a federal grant.

Vail counsels a small group of girls (so far, there have been no identified male victims in Clark County). Those girls came through the system as runaways or after being charged with a crime. If they say they were trafficked, probation officials will refer the cases to Vail.

Vail said she sees a lot of similarity between cases. Girls who are addicted to drugs and alcohol or in foster care are especially prone to becoming prostitutes. But, she said, she also has been surprised at how far-reaching the crime can be. She’s counseled girls who were straight-A students and came from a good home.

One of the key traits in the victims, she has observed, is vulnerability. They are girls who can be groomed easily by the pimps — those who are especially responsive to compliments, expensive gifts and attention.

“A lot of (the pimps) start out as the boyfriend,” she said.

That poses the same setbacks as domestic violence victims: They are emotionally attached to their abusers and often don’t want to pursue prosecution against them, she said.

“Sometimes they feel very alienated,” Vail said. “A lot of times, they start out way tough” and she has to break through a barrier.

Long-term support is exactly what police, social workers and Smith of Shared Hope say is missing in the fight against child sex trafficking.

Vail estimates that about 80 percent of her girls have stable homes. Still, many victims need an anonymous, secure place to go.

Smith said those safe havens are rare; there are only a few in the United States specified for trafficking victims.

Across the river, Janus Youth Programs helped the Oregon Sexual Assault Resource Center secure funding for seven beds at an undisclosed location. That’s a small step in the right direction, said Esther Nelson, program manager for SARC’s commercially sexually exploited children division. “Most of them are living in very unsafe situations,” she said.

Jennifer’s story

By all accounts, Jennifer’s life was far from dangerous until the eighth grade. She was good student, receiving As and Bs, and had several friends at her Clark County middle school.

A striking 16-year-old girl with cropped hair and steely eyes, she sat in a coffee shop on a recent afternoon with Sgt. Chapman and her mother, and shared her story.

Jennifer said her ordeal started out like this: One night, she sneaked away from home to a party, where she met the man who later became her pimp. “He was cute. He had nice watches,” she said. “He was like LL Cool J.” She was 13 at the time.

Without telling her mother, Jennifer began dating the man — until it suddenly turned dark.

“It was a few months until I realized it wasn’t a relationship and he had other girls,” she said. “I started lying to myself and saying, ‘He did this (for me), so I’ll do this’” for him.

She started meeting men for “dates” and working Portland’s 82nd Avenue strip. Her rate was $100 an hour, which would all go to him. She became addicted to cocaine at age 14.

Jennifer’s mother said she saw the change in her daughter, but she had no idea about the pimp. “I thought she was just acting out because (Jennifer’s father and I) were divorcing,” she said. “It would be 8 or 9 at night and she wouldn’t be home from school.”

At first, Jennifer would tell her mom she was spending the weekend at a friend’s house, and then sneak to her pimp’s apartment. Then, she started running away for longer periods.

One night an officer broke the news to Jennifer’s mom. He told her mom to look at a certain website and scan the ads of sex workers. In disbelief, her mom looked, but couldn’t find her daughter.

Meanwhile, Jennifer told her pimp she didn’t want to work for him anymore. After an argument that including him slapping her, he kicked her out of his apartment.

Jennifer was found by an officer wandering Portland’s 82nd Avenue. The officer took her home. But a fight with her mom over her cellphone, in which she assaulted her mother, landed her in juvenile hall.

She was referred to probation counselor Vail, who gave her a book, “Renting Lacy,” about the life of one child sex worker. Vail helped her start breaking down her walls.

Then, in June 2010, her location was leaked to her pimp. One of his friends came to where she was staying and beat and sexually assaulted her.

Her attacker was convicted and sent to prison.

But Jennifer’s pimp is still at large. For her protection, Shared Hope found and sent Jennifer to a girl’s school on the East Coast. She spent nine months there before coming home in August. Her family now lives in Oregon.

Since being home, Jennifer is working to obtain her GED and wants to use her experience to help other victims.

“Many girls think I’m a criminal for doing those things,” she said. “Telling anyone is like suicide.”

Jennifer and her mom both agree she has a long way to go in the healing process. When she gets nervous, she sucks her thumb and tries to laugh at the circumstances, while her mom cries.

The process of recovery can take years, acknowledged Brianna. Her heart goes out to Jennifer.

Looking back on herself in her high school years, Brianna thinks girls are especially vulnerable because they’re still sorting out their identity. She thinks finding direction is a key to moving on.

“Your life comes with purpose,” she said. “The number one thing is finding self-respect for yourself and finding something that makes you purposeful.”

Brianna said she is finding that purpose by volunteering for Shared Hope and in her school studies; she plans to become a nurse. It’s an ongoing process.

“My life has just completely changed for the better,” she said.

Sick Reality of the Pacific Northwest

Do you live in the Northwest and want an idea of JUST how bad sex trafficking is in this region?

Then click the link and watch the video- it's awful.

http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/133287013.html?tab=video

'It makes me sick': Children sold for sex on Seattle streets

By Sabra Gertsch Published: Nov 4, 2011 at 10:51 PM PST

SEATTLE - He makes promises he doesn't keep - and what he takes destroys lives and tears families apart.

He's the guy out there right now on the streets of Seattle selling sex with underaged girls - children.

Now, a teenager who escaped from his clutches describes her terrifying ordeal - in her own words - in a letter she wrote and shared with KOMO News, KATU's sister station in Seattle.

"Everything he ever told me was just lies," says "Natalie," who doesn't want her real name used or her photo to be shown. "Pimps know that they have got you all tangled up in their lies."

Her broken-hearted mother, "Lynne," says - no more. It's too late to save her daughter - now she wants to save yours.

"She said she'd been raped," says Lynne.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," says Philip Martin of Compassion2One, which works to end the enslavement of children.

Says Natalie, "You never know how quickly your life can be turned upside down."

Twenty-first century slavery is tightening its sinister grip on Seattle, as Natalie's case proves.

"We have anywhere from 500 to 700 young people under the age of 18 trafficked just within the city of Seattle alone, every week," says Martin.

Sex servants - as young as 11 years old.

Lynne's child Natalie was one of them.

"They picked her up a block from my house," says Lynne.

Natalie wrote these words: "They say anything and everything to convince you to do these things for them."

The experience was so traumatizing that the teenager won't let us use her voice, or reveal the faces or real names of her family - but Lynne desperately wants every mother to hear her story.

Natalie was barely 15 when she ran away from her home in Auburn, lured with fun promises by a girl she met on the street.

"Within 24 hours she was being sold on Backpage.com. Within 36 hours she had a pimp," says Lynne.

Backpage.com is accused of being a lucrative playground for pimps pushing their under-aged product. Village Voice Media owns the site, as well as Seattle Weekly, where similar ads are placed in the back.

"Nearly every one of these ads is for illegal services," says Rob McKenna, the state attorney general.

In a written statement, Backpage.com insists it has made safety changes and is working with law enforcement.

But McKenna demands that Backpage.com prove it polices its ads for minors. He links the site to 50 cases of child exploitation in 22 states in the last three years. Now a total of 51 attorneys general have signed that complaint.

"We haven't sued them. We haven't threatened to go after them for criminal violation. We just said, 'Do the right thing.' But if this persists, we will obviously be looking at legal remedies," McKenna says.

Yet for 108 days there was no remedy for a mother driven crazy with worry.

"I couldn't drive anymore - just hysterical - you just don't know," she says.

Her daughter was driven to buyers in Bellevue, Mercer Island, Tacoma and up to Bellingham.

"Her pimp would wait for her outside," says Lynne.

The pimp parked outside was Baruti Hopson - 16 years older than the girl he raped and sold over and over again.

"He told her she was doing God's will," says Lynne.

"It's usually too late to get out," wrote Natalie.

It took undercover Seattle police officers to get Natalie out.

On August 23, 2010, the vice unit set up a sting through a Backpage.com ad and busted Baruti at the Silver Cloud Hotel in South Seattle.

"We're third-highest in the nation when it comes to harboring and trafficking victims within the state and within our city," says Martin.

Philip Martin is co-founder of Seattle Against Slavery, works for the nonprofit Compassion2One and says young girls who lack self-esteem and come from broken homes are often most vulnerable to predators - who aren't only online.

"Something new that's happening - they are sending in guys who are boys, 15- to 16-year-old boys, into our schools to be spotters and to be recruiters," says Martin.

Movie theaters, bus stops, churches - any public venue is a target.

"The depth of the problem was worse than I had imagined," says Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.

Last year police recovered 81 children being commercially sexually exploited in Seattle. Mayor McGinn knows statistics suggest the city is hotbed for the crime.

"Our statistics may say that it's more, but that's because we are daylighting the issue," he says - treating the young girls as victims instead of criminal prostitutes.

Almost $1 million in federal grants awarded recently to the Seattle police will help, but the mayor sees huge gaps in prevention, intervention and rehab to keep the rescued girls from going back.

"There's so many of these families that aren't getting their children back," says Lynne.

Natalie has been home for a year now.

"Facing the truth that the 31-year-old man I was with just used me for his own profit," she writes.

She testified against Baruti, who was sentenced to 26 years behind bars - one of the first to face tough penalties for sex trafficking under a state law passed in 2003.

"So if you ever find yourself in a relationship with someone who promises you the world as long as you sell your body for money - think twice about it," she says.

Natalie cried after writing these words. She thought she was in love with the guy - who brainwashed her into bed.

"It's an important story. It needs to be told."

It's hard to know exactly how many children are caught up in the sex trade but some estimates put it at a million kids nationwide.

Oregon received a "D" grade in the Protected Innocence Initiative, which grades each state on efforts to combat child sex trafficking.

Washington received a "C."

Gig Harbor, Washington

Check out this news link for a drawing of a man who tried to lure a 13 year old girl into his van.

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2011/11/01/sketch-released-of-man-who-tried-to-lure-gig-harbor-girl/

El Paso, Texas to Baltimore, Maryland....

Women from Maryland escape alleged prostitution ring

Federal authorities allege victims were part of human trafficking ring; 10 arrested and house raided in Northeast Baltimore

By Peter Hermann, The Baltimore Sun

6:56 p.m. EDT, November 5, 2011

The woman, barely in her 20s and estranged from her family, worked two jobs as she tried to launch a singing career. When she started chatting online with the head of "424 Records," she thought she had finally gotten her break.

The purported record label had music videos on Facebook and YouTube. The promoters appeared to have the cliched trappings of hip-hop — the cars, the gold chains, the girls, the lingo, the cash. But the group's motto breathed tranquillity: "One Team, One Family."

Most alluring, the group was going on tour. The young woman eagerly joined up, and even became what she thought was the leader's girlfriend. The group left Baltimore in May 2010. They got as far as a motel on a seedy stretch of U.S. 1 in Laurel before she realized something was wrong.

Instead of a singing tour, she was taken back and forth to a nightclub on The Block to strip for money. By then, it was too late.

Federal prosecutors say this woman and others were lured into a sex ring that stretched from Maryland to Texas, from the Depression-era strip clubs along East Baltimore Street to a stucco, frontier-style adult entertainment center on an interstate access road on the dusty outskirts of El Paso.

Authorities said the women were forced to strip and work as prostitutes. They were beaten and robbed of their income, their cellphones and identification cards confiscated in a sophisticated enterprise that took in more than $1 million since 2009, according to documents filed in federal court.

City police and the FBI arrested 10 people last month in a raid at a white clapboard house off Harford Road, down the street from a church and a day care center, where they said women, men and children were packed into rooms devoid of furniture.

The woman described her odyssey with "424 Records" in an interview with The Baltimore Sun. She recounted how she escaped and helped two other women get away, and how she helped the FBI in their pursuit of the suspects, all of whom are facing federal charges in Texas under human trafficking statutes. The details of her story are also included in court documents.

"There is no way to put into words the fear that you feel," said the woman, whose identity is not being divulged because The Sun does not identify victims in sex-crime cases. She was interviewed along with advocates who help battered women and who worked with the federal authorities to aid the victims. Four others identified in court documents were too frightened to talk to a reporter.

To advocates and prosecutors, the case illustrates an inherent danger of the adult entertainment business. Dancers are sometimes victims caught in a sleazy, underground sex trade from which it is hard to escape, they say.

"It's a common theme — they may have initially gotten involved voluntarily, but they didn't realize what they were getting into," said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "And once they get involved and want to get out, the pimps don't let them."

The women, Rosenstein said, typically live on society's margins, where family life is more dangerous than the street. Desperate for money or drugs, they are vulnerable to "direct and indirect coercion" and "threatened with retaliation, threatened with guns and threatened with physical violence."

Federal prosecutors in Baltimore formed the Human Trafficking Task Force in 2007 to combat the growing problem of people transporting women across state lines for prostitution. Since then, more than two dozen cases have been prosecuted, including a case in Annapolis that started with an investigation into a fatal shooting and led to allegations of forced prostitution in brothels in Easton and Annapolis.

Melissa Snow, the director of the anti-trafficking program for TurnAround, a center that helps abused and battered women, said human trafficking cases often have links to adult entertainment, from pornography to prostitution. She said strip clubs are a prime hunting ground for pimps.

"The girls are sold over and over and over every night to strangers," said Snow, whose group is helping some of the women involved in the Texas case. "And every dollar they earn goes into the pockets of the traffickers."

This most recent case is one of the largest in Maryland, authorities said. A 16-page FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore details its scope, noting that the suspects bragged on YouTube about leading lavish lifestyles.

They had "models" for videos, who police said were actually the victims. One video showed them shopping for jewelry in an El Paso shopping mall, with one man repeating, "Focus on the money." One video promo on YouTube features a singer calling himself "thug dog" and "g" and flashes images of The Block while the singer praises hollow-point bullets, all while rapping about his control over women.

The victims told agents that they were lured in different ways, according to court documents. An 18-year-old from Baltimore met a woman in a chat room who befriended her, then traveled to Texas to visit her. She planned to stay only two days, but wound up dancing at adult clubs in El Paso.

Another met two of the alleged leaders in the parking lot of a motel in Woodlawn, when they helped jump-start her car and then offered to put her and her child up in a room. Still another was dancing on The Block and met two of the women who police said were among the leaders. The FBI said the women convinced her to join the group.

Once involved, police said, it was hard for the women to get out. Money, ID cards and cellphones were locked in safes. The court documents say that the women had to meet a $200 a shift quota, and if they failed they were forced to work "overtime," which the agents said "meant having sex for money with customers at strip clubs."

It also was hard for the women to get the attention of law enforcement. The FBI said in court documents that El Paso police at least once passed on information to federal authorities after encountering a woman from the group. But the FBI said that the local officers twice simply put women on a bus and sent them back to Baltimore. The documents say the police "took no further action."

The two clubs in Baltimore named in federal court documents in connection with the case are Chez Joey on The Block and the Ritz Cabaret on South Broadway.

Prosecutors have not alleged that their owners, managers or workers knew about the alleged sex ring or were complicit in its operations. The woman interviewed by The Sun, and the federal court documents, say that a doorman and manager at one of the clubs helped one of the dancers escape from the group.

Lawyers or owners reached for Chez Joey and the Ritz declined to comment, saying they know nothing of the allegations. Peter Prevas, a longtime attorney in Baltimore who has represented clubs and workers on The Block for years, said he has not encountered human trafficking.

He said most of the dancers "had or still have a drug problem and are trying to get into that dancing environment. … From eating lunch down there, I see guys dropping women off, but I wouldn't know them to be pimps."

The FBI identified the ringleaders of the alleged Baltimore-El Paso sex ring as 43-year-old Alarcon Allen Wiggins, known as "J-Roc," and Deangelo Smith, who goes by "D-Lo." Their lawyers in Texas did not return calls. Police said both are from the Baltimore area; Wiggins has addresses on Pulaski Highway and in Hampstead. Both men are being detained in a federal detention center in Texas.

Prosecutors said each suspect has been charged with one count of transportation for prostitution and one count of coercion and enticement. They could each receive up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Five of the 10 suspects pleaded not guilty in federal court in Texas last week and three others are scheduled to be arraigned there on Monday. Two female suspects are still in Baltimore.

Wiggins, at his hearing in El Paso, told the judge, "We are being set up. What if we didn't do it?" according to an Associated Press account of the proceeding. "They drive us from our home, they put chains on us for 30 days and nobody listens to us."

The woman interviewed by The Sun said she was taken in by the music. After initial chats over various social networking sites, she said she began texting one of the ringleaders and eventually decided to date him. She said he promised to put her music on a CD and take her on tour starting in May 2010.

They went to York, Pa., where the woman said she first encountered the other men and women, both suspects and other victims. But she still had her cellphone and access to email, and was regularly checking in with friends. They then started the "tour," which took them to the motel in Laurel.

"Something just didn't seem right," the woman said.

The men, women and some children — who belonged to the suspects or other victims — were packed into two adjoining rooms. The man she believed she was dating told her they needed money to continue the music tour, she said, and sent her to The Block.

Beds were moved to block the doors of the motel rooms; the only way out was to go through the adjoining men's room. The woman said the men drove them to the club and waited outside in case the women tried to walk away. When on the street, she said, they were forced to keep their heads down, eyes to the ground, and were never allowed to talk to anyone.

It was in the motel in Laurel that the woman said she first saw a friend get beaten for suggesting she might leave. The men gradually took away her possessions.

The group soon left for New Orleans, where she said the women danced at a club near Bourbon Street. They worked in shifts and on alternate days; those who weren't dancing stayed in the room to take care of the children, clean and spend time with the men.

It was here that the woman said she got her first chance to sing. It wasn't in a concert hall, or in a recording studio. She said the closest she got to performing was on a street corner.

At the club one night, the woman said she took a rare moment alone to try to get away. With other women in a private lap dance area, she raced out the front door, in high-heels "and my stripper clothes," and borrowed a cellphone from a stranger to call her ex-boyfriend in Maryland.

It was 3 in the morning.

"I was too scared to call the police," she said. She returned to the club.

On that same trip, the woman said she was twice forced to have sex with some men in a room down the hall from theirs, for $40 each time. She also said she had to convince other, new women who'd joined the group, to also engage in prostitution.

After a night that netted more money than usual, the woman said, the group packed up and drove to Texas. The leaders had a house there, the FBI said in court documents, but the woman said they first stayed in a Motel 6. She said she constantly had to tell her "boyfriend" that she loved him, to lure him into a false sense of complacency. That might win her more freedom, and a chance to get away, she thought.

There was a new woman there, and during a moment alone, they started talking.

"Do you want to leave?" the new woman asked.

"Every day since I got here," the woman answered.

They told the men they needed to get ice, and even invited one of the ringleaders along to avoid raising suspicion. The man declined, and the two went out alone. They stood at the ice machine, counted to three, and ran to a motel across the street.

There, the clerk hid them in a back office as one of the men came searching. Police took them to a bus station and in June this year they made a four-day Greyhound journey back to Maryland, using money wired by the other woman's parents. The had no identification and no change of clothes. The other woman's father called the FBI.

The next day, the woman got an email from the man she said had promised her a concert tour. It called her a "throw away hoe" and added, "You will never make it in music u to stupid."

Back in Baltimore, the woman interviewed by The Sun said she stayed briefly with the friend with whom she had escaped, and then with other friends in Prince George's County. But she needed money, and the surest money was back on The Block.

On the night of Sept. 1, at a club identified by police as Chez Joey, the woman said she noticed another young dancer talking with people associated with "424 Records," who had returned to Maryland, to a house they rented off Harford Road.

The dancer had been warned not to talk to the woman because she had left the group. But the dancer wanted to escape, and thought the woman could help her. The dancer got a chance to talk to the woman privately and told her of her plans.

But there was a problem. Her child was back at the house in Northeast Baltimore. The woman, who knew the doorman and manager, said she convinced them to call the suspects and get them to either return the child or face the police.

The dancer had her child back by 3 a.m. The two women hid in the club, around the corner from City Hall and police headquarters, and then made it to the house of the woman who had escaped from El Paso. They called TurnAround and the FBI, who by then were investigating the group.

Federal agents raided the house on Harford Road on Oct. 12.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-prostitution-ring-20111103,0,2521504,full.story

Educating Authorities

Summit looks to stop sex trafficking on I5

November 09, 2011 6:23 PM

Caitlin Conrad/KTVL.com

TALENT, Ore -- Mayors and Law Enforcement met in Portland on Tuesday for the I5 Summit.

The goal of the meeting was to help local police and leaders figure out way to stop trafficking along Interstate 5. The illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons, and humans is a lucrative business for criminals.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams hosted the summit and he focused the discussion on sex trafficking. Present at the meeting were police chiefs and mayors from Seattle and British Columbia. The only representative from southern Oregon was Police Chief Mike Moran.

Human trafficking along the I5 corridor is a huge problem that is hard to stop. Sgt. Mike Geiger is the head of Portland's Sexual Assault Detail and works to stop human trafficking across the pacific northwest.

He says the sex trade industry it is not only a problem, it's one that needs attention from law enforcement all around the country.

Geiger explained that what many might see as willful prostitution is really young females being forced into the sex trade. In 2008, the FBI found sex trafficking to be a $9.5 billion industry.

Moran said people can be sold over and over again for sex, where as objects like drugs and weapons can only be sold once. This makes human trafficking tempting to gangs and criminals.

Geiger says predators often prey on runaway youth. Criminals will hang out at bus stops and train depots waiting for children to arrive with what he described as a lost look. The predator than lures the runaway in with offers of food and shelter. Once the child is in their possession they can hold them captive and sell them for sex.

Victims of human trafficking are often advertised as escorts on websites like backpage.com. The postings claim the girls are 18 but that is not always the case. Medford and Klamath Falls both have adult escort pages on backpage.com.

Victims are often moved from urban center to urban center along the I5 corridor making it harder for police to track criminals, Geiger said.

Moran says participating in Summits like the one on Tuesday can help educate law enforcement officials about what to look for. He plans to take what he learned and share it with other local agencies in the Rogue Valley at an upcoming meeting this month.

http://www.ktvl.com/articles/trafficking-1202508-police-summit.html

Scandal at Penn State

Those who witnessed it, didn't say anything....

Read about the Penn State Scandal:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Penn-St-ex-coach-Jerry-Sandusky-others-charged-in-child-sex-case-110511/

Yep, it's in the Yellow Pages....

Check out how one state has discovered it's own sex trafficking problem and how they are fighting back.

http://www.kvnonews.com/2011/10/lawmakers-look-for-solutions-to-human-trafficking-in-nebraska/

Scary Statistics

"..... every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography....."

Does this disgust you?

"Every second 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography.
In that same second 372 internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines.
Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the U.S..."

"It’s big business. The pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion. 2006 & 2005 U.S. Pornography Industry Revenue Statistics, 2006 Top Adult Search Requests, 2006 Search Engine Request Trends are some of the other statistics revealed here."

There are statistics from Jerry Ropelato and the entire article can be found at the web address listed below.

Pornography. Porn. What do you think when you first hear that word?

Do you think of those actors and actresses as possible sex trafficking victims?

Do you think of the objectification of women?

Do you think of how much porn twists once healthy mental ideas about sexual relationships into negative, unrealistic ideas about sexual relationships?

Do you think of the damage it does to both the male and female self esteem and sense of value?

Do you think of the broken families that pornography can create?

Do you think of the lasting images that will have damaging effects on current and future relationships?

Probably not.

Many of you who are reading this, don't think that way. Well, here at Called to Rescue, we take the issue of pornography very seriously because it has a major impact on the work that we do.

I, Amanda, attended a seminar this past week that focused on pornography and sexual violence and if I didn't think it was terrible before, it became pure evil.

Check this link out and wander around their site, a lot of statistics within this seminar were pulled from this site. Become informed and help stop the deterioration of healthy sexual relationships within our culture.

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html

Want to help?

Do you want to help in the fight against trafficking but don't have the time? Could you sacrifice a couple cups of your favorite coffee for the cause? If you'd like to monetarily help Called to Rescue's effort in their fight against trafficking please do so at:

www.calledtorescue.org

The funds you donate help keep us going whether it's our offices in the Philippines or here at home, our hotlines, safe houses or many other efforts in between. Please, will you join us?

Dr. Cyndi

Called to Rescue continues to pave the way for children to be rescued and made aware of the problem of trafficking and exploitation.

In Salem, Oregon's BACKYARD!

This is disgusting!

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110260421

20 Year Sentence!!

Oregon just sentenced a 23 year old man, convicted of sex trafficking a 13 year old girl...

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20111027/UPDATE/111027006/20-year-sentence-Portland-sex-trafficking

Oregon's Shelter

Portland, Oregon is preparing for a sex trafficking shelter! Finally! Looks like mid Fall is the opening date, check out the article....

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/health/Shelter-for-sex-trafficking-survivors-prepares-to-open-132749623.html

The Candy Shop Short Film

A film about Child Sexual Exploitation....
http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-the-candy-shop-allegorical-short-child-sex-trafficking/

Joining the Fight

When I share with people that I am with Called to Rescue and help fight human trafficking, one of the most common questions is 'well, how can I help too?'

Here are a couple of ideas:

• Support local organizations that fight! Many large cities will have some kind of organization that fights trafficking. Do a Google search to find organizations near you. However, if you need something closer to home, some speakers will travel and talk to large groups of people. Called to Rescue trains, advocates and informs all over Washington and Oregon.... and we're spreading! Just ask and we'll do our best to show up!
  

• Support international organizations that fight because as we all know, this is a huge global problem. Called to Rescue has a large presence in the Philippines as well as here in the United States.
  

• Word of mouth. If you have recently learned more about this problem, or you're a long time supporter, be an advocate! Voice what you know to your friends, coworkers, etc. The more awareness about the problem, the better!

• Keep Polaris' trafficking hotline in your phone 1-888-3737-888. This number can be used by the victims themselves to start getting help, or if you spot something that isn't quite right. However, if it's an emergency please just call 911. More and more police forces are becoming trained about this problem, so don't be afraid to call them!
  

• Are you talented in persuasive writing? Then write your elected officials! Your Senators and Congressman are great people to write regarding this problem.

• Call your local law enforcement and check what they have set in place to fight against trafficking. Maybe they have a public task force you could become a part of.

These are just a few ideas to start in the fight. Human trafficking is a very complicated and hard problem to solve so don't get discouraged, get involved!!

Again, Sex Trafficking proves to be a hard problem to fix...

Trailblazing State Law on Human-Traffic Bogs Down

By Judith Spitzer

WeNews correspondent

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Washington was the first state to pass a law against human trafficking in 2003, but so far there are only two convictions. "Where we are with human trafficking today is where we were with domestic violence 30 or 40 years ago," say a top law enforcer.

SEATTLE (WOMENSENEWS)--King County prosecutors here in Seattle partnered with the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District in 2009 to charge 10 members of a violent street gang with recruiting and forcing female teens into organized prostitution.

One of those charged, 19-year-old DeShawn Cash Money Clark, wound up being convicted on two counts of human trafficking. He is now serving a 17-year prison sentence.

For anti-trafficking activists the conviction--the first brought under the state's pioneering human trafficking statute--marked a milestone. But it also offered a measure of disappointment.

In 2000 federal legislation criminalized human trafficking for the first time and in 2003 Washington became the first state to pass a similar law. The key provision of the legislation was that it criminalized human trafficking just as the 2000 federal legislation had done. A series of laws since then have addressed restrictions on sex tourism, along with confidentiality and benefits for victims.

There are some good reasons for the state to have led the way, given some inviting physical features for traffickers: an international border with Canada, two major ports, an interstate highway connecting from Seattle to south California and considerable rural areas.

Since Washington passed its law, other states followed suit. Today only nine states lack laws criminalizing human trafficking.

It took six years for the first conviction, Clark's two counts, in Washington though. In a more recent case, Baruti Hopson, a 32-year-old Seattle man, was convicted in January 2011 of beating, raping and prostituting a 15-year-old runaway girl from Auburn. Hopson was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison in March under enhanced penalties for pimping out a juvenile.

Besides these two convictions, it's hard to track down any others prosecuted at the state level.

Enforcement Required

The law is meaningless without enforcement, says Velma Veloria, a former Washington State representative who introduced the 2003 bill. She was the first Filipina-American woman to serve as a state lawmaker.

Veloria became concerned about the problem of human trafficking after killings in the state of several so-called mail-order brides; women who arrive from foreign countries through brokers (or traffickers) and enter financially and culturally dependent partnerships with relative strangers that can leave them abused and legally stranded – and many times unable to speak the language.

Rob McKenna, Washington's attorney general, says law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors weren't properly educated about the trafficking law and how to use it.

"Penalties weren't high enough to make it an attractive enough (solution)," McKenna says.

Since 2008, McKenna says his office has increased its training programs for law enforcers and prosecutors.

Sex trafficking in Washington has involved girls as young as 12 and younger. Many have been lured into prostitution by street gangs or family members in a quest for drugs or money or some combination of those factors.

The average age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 12 to 14 years old, according to the state's attorney general's office and other sources.

In January of this year, state penalties for commercial sex trafficking and sex trafficking of minors were toughened. Now the commercial sex abuse of a minor, defined as "exploitation in which a commercial sex act is induced by force or coercion or in which case the person induced to perform sex acts is a minor -- or under 18," is a felony equal to a first-degree rape charge. It's now punishable by seven to 10 years in prison rather than the previous two-year sentence. Those convicted of selling or buying minors must also register as sex offenders for 15 years after serving their sentence.

But McKenna says there is much more to do. "For me, where we are with human trafficking today is where we were with domestic violence 30 or 40 years ago. There is a really low awareness that the problem exists, there is inadequate training of law enforcement agencies and social service providers and there are few, if any, services for victims."

Fear of Reprisal

James Dold is policy counsel for the Polaris Project, an anti-trafficking group that helps victims and works for systemic change. He says the lack of prosecutions can be tied partly to victims' reluctance to testify out of fear of reprisal.

Dold says Washington is "ahead of the game" compared to many states in providing victim-protection services. But adds that, "We need for all involved to be under the assumption that these women are victims--there needs to be a victim-centered policy," he says.

Washington is one of only two states in which persons under 18 are immune from prosecution under trafficking laws.

"There's a need to focus victim protections and services and have witnesses who will cooperate. It's hard to make sure victims feel safe and comfortable in order to testify against the bad guys. These laws begin to get at that in order to put protocols in place like social services and different resources from agencies … like shelter," Dold says.

Former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, founder of the Vancouver-based Shared Hope International, an organization that rescues victims of sex trafficking, says traffickers are not the only perpetrators. She thinks a sharper legal eye should be cast on the people who create demand for sex traffickers.

"We can focus on the pimps as bad guys but as far as I'm concerned, the men out there shopping for sex, buying someone else's 13-year-old daughter, are the ones who should be spending their lives in jail," says Smith. "They've certainly taken (the victims') lives."

Smith says the goal should be taking a protective stance toward the victim--emotionally, physically and psychologically--and giving her or him the same service as other victims of violent crime.

Women's Groups Involved

Former state Rep. Veloria worked on passage of the 2003 anti-trafficking law alongside a number of other women's rights activists, including Sutapa Basu, director of the Women's Center at the University of Washington.

Their activism was galvanized by trainings and information provided by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Women Policy Studies, a group founded in 1972 that provides analysis and research on a number of gender-sensitive issues, including human trafficking.

"When they learned (more) about trafficking through seminars we do, they worked their brains out," said Leslie Wolf, president of the center. "They took their education and brought it to legislation. They are great advocates for people in the state."

The State Department estimates that 2 million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for minors, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism and possible death, according to their Trafficking in Persons Report 2011.

Domestically, a 2009 University of Pennsylvania study estimated that nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses, "most of them runaways or thrown-aways,"

Veloria, the key backer of the path-breaking 2003 law, says she always knew that laws, in and of themselves, wouldn't end the problems.

"We need to address women's poverty, immigration and language barriers," she says. "We need to address the problems women have and help them."

Would you like to Comment but not sure how? Visit our help page at http://www.womensenews.org/help-making-comments-womens-enews-stories.

Would you like to Send Along a Link of This Story?
http://www.womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/111005/trailblazing-state-law-human-traffic-bogs-down

Judith Spitzer is an independent journalist who lives and works in the Pacific Northwest.

For more information:

U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report 2011:
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/

Shared Hope International:
http://www.sharedhope.org/

Polaris Project:
http://www.polarisproject.org/

Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN):
http://warn-trafficking.org/

http://www.womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/111005/trailblazing-state-law-human-traffic-bogs-down?page=0,0