"How can I stop child trafficking?"

I hear that question a dozen times a week. 

People think they have to travel overseas to a 3rd-world country and raid a brothel to rescue kids.

You can if you want, but really -- just look in your own community.  Kids are waiting to be rescued around the corner from your house.

In my city of Orlando, Florida, for example, our unfunded human trafficking task force, the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking (FCAHT), just had its first successful domestic trafficking prosecution using Florida Human Trafficking State Law.

It involves a young woman and her 5-month-old child--both of whom were rescued. I've posted the details below if you want to read them and be inspired.

So what can YOU do to stop child trafficking? 

Google the name of your city and "human trafficking" to see if you have an anti-trafficking coalition, like the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking that helped with the recent rescue, arrest, prosecution in Orlando. 

If you find one, get involved.  If you don't find one, start one.

It doesn't take experts.

"A lot of people sell themselves short," stresses Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking. "They say, 'I'm not the attorney general, so I can't put together a task force in my state.'  You can do a lot more than you think."

Read the case below...be inspired...and then go help rescue someone. 

You can do it. 

Really.

* * *

Lori's Story

Here are the highlights of the case involving an underage woman and her 5-month-old child. Remember, the rescue and prosecution were done with the help of a city-wide task force that included not just police officers but individuals like you and me who chose to get involved.

This case involves a college-educated young woman we'll call Lori and her child.

Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and the Osceola County Investigative Bureau conducted a joint prostitution/escort detail in Orlando.  They called out an escort advertising on either Craigslist or Backpage and made a prostitution case on Lori. 

During the interview with law enforcement, Lori told them she'd borrowed some money from a man (we'll call him Greg) to help her fix her car.  She was slowly paying him back when she got arrested for shoplifting.  She called Greg to help bond her out and he did -- but he said she had to work for him to pay him back.

Greg already had a juvenile whom he had been prostituting.  Now he posted Lori on the internet and sent her to prostitution calls.

To make sure Lori would comply, Greg and his "colleagues" made her drop off her 5-month-old child to them as collateral while she went on prostitution calls.

At the end of the day, she had to bring the money to them and they would return her child to her.

Lori felt she had no choice but to comply with Greg and the other men.

Once she told law enforcement officers her story and showed them text messages confirming it, they set up a team at the hotel where the suspects were staying.  The men noticed something was wrong and told Lori not to come, but she convinced them to meet at a Walmart parking lot to exchange the money for the child. 

Agents set up in the parking lot, arrested the suspects, and rescued Lori's child.

Lori, who was a victim of force, fraud, and coercion (the signs of human trafficking), was not arrested.

Greg and the other men were charged with sex trafficking. One of them was a juvenile himself and made a plea deal for lesser charges.

A jury found Greg guilty of sex trafficking. Lori chose to speak at sentencing. The state prosecutor asked for least 5 to 8 years time for the crime, but the judge was so moved by Lori's testimony that he sentenced Greg to 12 years.

Comments

[Brochures]

It is not only on this country that trafficking cases is on the rise but most countries have this problem. Being vigilant on this crimes might curb trafficking.

[Diana Scimone]

Thanks, Kyla, for sharing the great news about what's happening in Nashville to stop trafficking. It's a great example of what a community can do. Keep us updated on your progress and we look forward to great reports of trafficking going down in Nashville because of your efforts.

Diana

[Kyla]

Diana,
Thanks for this post. The Florida Coalition has a great reputation for all of the hard work they are doing to fight trafficking. I live in Nashville, and am part of a movement here to take what is already being done against trafficking, one step further. Here is the post which gives more details about what is happening here. http://wp.me/plss2-c2 Keep on, keeping on.