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.