HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCES

These are Human Trafficking Resources.
Please also see:
Bonded Labor/Debt Bondage || Exploitation of Immigrants by Traffickers/Employers
Human Organ Trafficking

ARTICLES/INFORMATION/RESEARCH
(click here for Organizations/Agencies)

Court Orders Sunlight on Huge Tranche of Jeffrey Epstein Files
"MANHATTAN (CN) – More than a decade after his child sex-abuse case shocked the nation, the extraordinarily light sentence given to politically connected Jeffrey Epstein continues to embarrass multiple presidents, a prince and a powerful lawyer. On Wednesday, the Second Circuit ordered sunlight for nearly 2,000 pages of files related to the wealthy tycoon and the dozens of girls whose assault claims he buried with an expansive plea deal. "
Courthouse News Service, July 3, 2019

Sold into marriage, Pakistani women endure rape in China
"FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN - At first, in her desperate calls home to her mother in Pakistan, Natasha Masih couldn't bring herself to say what they were doing to her. All the 19-year-old would say was that her new husband — a Chinese man her family sold her off to in marriage — was torturing her. Eventually she broke down and told her mother the full story, pleading with her to bring her home. The husband had hidden her away in a hotel in a remote corner of China and for the past weeks had been forcing her to have sex with other men. "I bought you in Pakistan," she said her husband told her. "You belong to me. You are my property.""
The Japan Times (AP), June 21, 2019

Disney employee arrested after allegedly trying to lure 8-year-old girl to hotel for sex, sending her explicit photos
"A Walt Disney World employee was arrested after he tried to lure an 8-year-old girl to a hotel in Orlando for sex, officials said Thursday. Frederick M. Pohl Jr., 40, was charged with transferring obscene materials to a minor and attempting to entice a minor, the United States District Attorney's Office for Middle District of Florida said in a news release. Back in March, Pohl began communicating online with a person who he believed to be the father of an 8-year-old girl. However, the "father" was actually an undercover federal agent. Pohl engaged in a series of discussions with the man, explicitly detailing sexual encounters he wanted to have with the 8-year-old girl, according to a criminal complaint. He specifically spoke about performing and receiving oral sex and having the man, who he thought was her dad, watch, the complaint alleged. "
NY Daily News, May 23, 2019

'Prostitution is seen as a leisure activity here': tackling Spain's sex traffickers
"Prostitution becomes sex trafficking when one person moves, detains or transports someone else for the purpose of profiting from their prostitution using fraud, force or coercion. In the UK, thousands of women are thought to be trapped in sexual servitude, but the scale of the problem in Spain is staggering. Until 2010, the law didn't even recognise human trafficking as a crime. Now the Spanish government estimates that up to 90% of women working in prostitution could be victims of trafficking or under the control of a third party – such as a pimp – who is profiting from them. Between 2012-2016, security forces in Spain rescued 5,695 people from slavery but acknowledge that thousands more remain under the control of criminals. Since it passed its first anti-trafficking laws in 2010, the government has been scrambling to get on top of this crisis, spending millions of euros on an emergency plan to target the individuals and gangs operating with impunity. In 2015, it went further and created formal alliances between security forces, prosecutors, judges and NGOs, to rescue victims and prosecute the perpetrators. Survivors such as Maria and Marcella now find themselves playing a crucial part in bringing the battle to the criminals who once sold and exploited them. But can Spain's new alliance of defenders really turn the tide against the traffickers?"
The Guardian, May 11, 2019

New Jersey woman convicted of enslaving Sri Lankan national, forcing her into same-sex marriage
"She moved from one of the world's poorest countries to one of the richest — only to become a slave. A New Jersey resident who forced a Sri Lankan national to work for free for nearly a decade and married her to keep her in the U.S. was found guilty Friday after a six-day trial. Alia Imad Faleh Al Hunaity, 43, brought the woman to the U.S. on a temporary visa in 2009 so the victim could work for her cleaning her homes in Woodland Park and Secaucus, cooking and caring for Hunaity's three children, authorities said. But Hunaity never paid her, limited her interactions with the world and required her to sleep on public spaces within Hunaity's homes, including in the kitchen, according to the Department of Justice. "
NY Daily News, March 10, 2019

82 Arrested in Multi-State Child Exploitation Operation Named "Operation Southern Impact III"
"Decatur, GA – A total of 82 people were arrested, and 17 children were rescued or identified as victims during a mutually coordinated operation between eight (8) southeastern states. The joint, proactive operation, Operation Southern Impact III, was coordinated by ten (10) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces in those eight states and focused on persons who possess and distribute child pornography and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the internet. The planning for Operation Southern Impact III began approximately 4 months ago and culminated in 3 days of investigative actions to include search warrant executions, undercover operations, arrests and sex offender compliance verification visits in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. A total of 171 law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies participated in the operation. The arrestees ranged in age from 20 to 70. Some of their occupations included non-profit employee, small business owner, store clerk, mechanic, daycare administrator, youth group leader, former high school band director, freelance photographer, construction worker and painter. During the operation, 134 search warrants were executed and 215 knock and talks were conducted in those eight (8) states. During those search warrants and knock and talks, 861 digital devices were previewed and 1,613 digital devices were seized. Of those devices seized 203 were mobile phones. "
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, May 3, 2019

Westchester creep sentenced to 19 1/2 years for trafficking underage girls
"A Westchester perv was sentenced to 19 ½ years in prison Friday for forcing underage girls into prostitution. Victor Gonzalez, 41, met three girls through online dating sites. After establishing a relationship with them he posted advertisements for the girls on websites. He drove them to encounters with adult men in the city and in Connecticut, prosecutors said. When authorities raided his home in Millwood in June 2018 they also found videos he filmed of himself having sex with one of the girls. "Young girls have no idea how the world works, and have little knowledge of how cruel other human beings can be. It is our responsibility as a community to protect the vulnerable, and stop people like Mr. Gonzalez from ever harming girls again," FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jr. said. "
NY Daily News, May 3, 2019

Long Island man turned parents' basement into sex dungeon for more than 20 trafficking victims, prosecutors say
"A drug-dealing sex trafficker turned his parents' Long Island basement into a grotesque dungeon where women were forced to have sex on a leopard-print bed next to portraits of his family, prosecutors said Thursday. Raymond Rodio III kept more than 20 women in the Sound Beach sex den over the past five years, forcing them to sleep in a room with no windows, no shower, and a bucket to relieve themselves, Suffolk County D.A. Timothy Sini said. Rodio was indicted on an array of sex trafficking charges Thursday, the most serious of which could land him in prison for 25 years. "
NY Daily News, April 25, 2019

Pa. Judge Sentenced To 28 Years In Massive Juvenile Justice Bribery Scandal
"A Pennsylvania judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison in connection to a bribery scandal that roiled the state's juvenile justice system. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was convicted of taking $1 million in bribes from developers of juvenile detention centers. The judge then presided over cases that would send juveniles to those same centers. The case came to be known as "kids-for-cash.""
NPR, August 11, 2011

Corpus Christi mother admits to selling her children, takes plea deal
"A Corpus Christi mother who admitted to selling her children to settle a drug debt was sentenced Friday to six years in prison. Garza, who sold her son for $2,500, took a plea deal Monday in 105th District Judge Jack Pulcher's court. She was convicted on three counts of selling or purchasing a child, a third-degree felony. She also was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to sell or purchase a child, state jail felonies."
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, April 5, 2019

5 arrested in connection to sex-trafficking, tattooing of minors in New Orleans, St. Tammany
"A total of five people were arrested in New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish as a result of an investigation into sex trafficking in which police said girls who were being pimped out were also given tattoos, including a face tattoo for one girl that read "numb," according to court records. One of the victims, age 16, was rescued from a New Orleans hotel, after days in which she had been drugged, beaten and raped by several men, records said."
Times-Picyuane (LA), April 1, 2019

Nine arrested in Lafayette Human Trafficking ring
"LAFAYETTE – After a lengthy investigation, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office has arrested nine people connected to prostitution and sex trafficking at five different message parlors within the city of Lafayette. Several others were originally detained and later released. One giving officials sensitive information on the extent of the operation. Explains Lafayette Sheriff Mark Garber, "So far one of the women that was detained who was engaged in the activity has come forward and confided in us that she was here against her will and she was being forced to engage in sex trafficking." This led to Ou Xufang being charged with one count of human trafficking. At this time, it's unclear how many of the involved are here illegally."
News 15 (LA), February 13, 2019

Woman Held 33 Immigrants in Her Illinois Home in Forced Labor Scheme, Federal Court Documents Show
"A woman has been arrested and accused of keeping 33 immigrants in her Illinois home, allegedly forcing them to work and pay her hundreds of dollars for rent, childcare and transportation, in addition to the thousands of dollars she said they owed her because she helped them get into the United States, federal court documents state. FBI investigators raided the home of Concepcion Malinek, 49, of Cicero, Illinois, this week and discovered 19 adults and 14 children living in her home, according to a criminal complaint prepared by an FBI agent. All of them are believed to be Guatemalan citizens. She faces two counts of forced labor. Malinek allegedly threatened the migrants with "immigration consequences," the complaint says, if they shared what was going on inside the house with anyone else. The legal status of the immigrants was unclear."
CNN WireService, March 29, 2019

Who buys a trafficked child for sex? Otherwise ordinary men.
"More than 1 million children, according to the International Labour Organization, are exploited each year in the commercial sex trade. IndyStar columnist Tim Swarens, through the support of a Society of Professional Journalists fellowship, spent more than a year investigating a lucrative business where children are abused with low risk to buyers or traffickers, despite tougher laws and heightened international awareness of the scourge. Google, Eli Lilly and Co., and Indiana Wesleyan University provided additional support for this project. This is the first of 10 columns in the EXPLOITED series, which explores the cultural and economic forces that contribute to commercial sexual exploitation."
USAToday, January 30, 2018

Project PA | 60% of sex, human trafficking victims once involved in foster care system
"Several nationwide studies show as many as 60 percent of sex and human trafficking victims in the United States were once in foster care. CBS21 News' Brian Sheehan takes a look at the numbers and how they relate to victims in Pennsylvania for Project PA: Children in Crisis. It may be hard for you to imagine. Many children involved with the foster care system finding themselves a victim of one of the worst types of crimes imaginable. Experts say sex trafficking is happening here in the United States in the shadows and is affecting our most vulnerable populations. Children and youths in foster in Central Pennsylvania may find themselves targets for sex traffickers, according to Rhonda Hendrickson with the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg."
CBS21 (PA), February 19, 2019

Savage Bronx pimp slapped with 20 years to life for kidnapping, sex trafficking
"A pimp who forced a woman into prostitution and sexually assaulted her with a broomstick was sentenced to 20 years to life behind bars Friday in Bronx Supreme Court. Lemuel Skipper, who was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault and sex trafficking, slapped and punched his victim before threatening to kill her, according to the Bronx DA's 2015 indictment against Skipper. Skipper, who goes by the street name Moet, lured the 26-year-old to an apartment in July 2015. While keeping her prisoner there, he allegedly beat her with a cane and sexually assaulted her with a broom handle. "
NY Daily News, February 8, 2019

Phoenix police dispute Cindy McCain's allegation of human trafficking at airport after she saw a child with a woman 'of a different ethnicity'
"But Phoenix police disputed McCain's claims and said that officers "determined there was no evidence of criminal conduct or endangerment," according to NBC 12. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately return a request for comment. McCain amended her comments Wednesday evening. "At Phoenix Sky Harbor, I reported an incident that I thought was trafficking," she tweeted. "I commend the police officers for their diligence. I apologize if anything else I have said on this matter distracts from "if you see something, say something.""
NY Daily News, February 6, 2019

Inside Queens' hidden sex district
""These places are like whack-a-mole," said Koo spokesman Scott Sieber. "You hit one, and they pop up in a different location under a different name. We need constant enforcement, so that the cost of doing business becomes too great for that business to sustain itself." NYPD Assistant Chief Patrick Conry said the department "works to end prostitution conditions which exist throughout our city, including Flushing." He said cops go after pimps, johns and landlords who rent out rooms to brothels — while trying to get help for victimized sex workers. "The NYPD understands that many of the persons involved are doing so because they are being forced, coerced or otherwise made to against their will.""
NY Post, February 2, 2019

South Koreans mourn the death of wartime sex slave
"SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean woman who was forced as a girl into a brothel and sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II was mourned Wednesday by hundreds of protesters who demanded reparations from Tokyo over wartime atrocities. Kim Bok-dong had been a vocal leader at the rallies that have been held every Wednesday in Seoul for nearly 30 years. She died on Monday at a Seoul hospital where she had been receiving treatment for cancer. She was 92. On a street near where the Japanese Embassy used to be, protesters gathered around a bronze statue of a girl representing Korean sexual slavery victims and held a moment of silence for Kim. Many of them held signboards with Kim's photos and words including, "We will never forget the life of Kim Bok-dong" and "Japanese government, apologize!""
AP, January 30, 2019

Queens pimp forced woman into prostitution, raped her and beat her: prosecutors
"A Queens pimp forced a woman into sex slavery, raped her, beat her, and used a wooden plank to force her into giving him all the money she earned, prosecutors said Monday. Dennis (Niddy) Hodges, 40, of Jamaica, put the 25-year-old victim to work as a prostitute after she moved out of her mom's home in November. "
NY Daily News, December 24, 2018

Westchester child sex trafficking ring busted
"Federal agents broke up a child sex trafficking ring that targeted a Westchester home for troubled youth Thursday when they charged 19 people with crimes connected to recruiting girls as young as 13-years old. All 19 defendants are from New York City, and none worked at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls, the Westchester facility they allegedly used as a source for finding potential prostitutes, according to a report in the Journal News. "
NY Daily News, December 14, 2018

Tennessee Governor Considering Clemency for Cyntoia Brown
"Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said on Monday that he is carefully considering the clemency request for Cyntoia Brown, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for killing a 43-year-old man who had solicited her for sex when she was just 16 years old. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled last week that Brown must serve 51 years before she's eligible for parole. Prosecutors said that Brown went with Johnny Mitchell Allen with the intent to rob him, but she and her lawyers insisted that she shot Allen in self-defense because she thought he was going to kill her. She also said she went home with him to have sex for money on the orders of her abusive boyfriend, who beat her and forced her into prostitution. In her appeal, she said that she only took money from the victim's wallet after he was dead because she was afraid of what would happen if she went back to her boyfriend empty handed."
Rolling Stone, December 10, 2018

Gun-toting Brooklyn pimp accused of forcing underage girls into prostitution operation
"A pistol-packing pimp forced two teenage girls into a life of prostitution with his threats and violence, using them for his own profit and perverse pleasure, authorities charged Wednesday. Joseph Harris, 37, of Brooklyn, was accused of sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and possessing a firearm while a felon, according to a four-count federal indictment. He was held without bail after a Brooklyn Federal Court hearing. Authorities alleged that between July 2017 and Harris' arrest in May 2018, he recruited a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year girl-old girl who were kept in a basement apartment on St. Marks Ave. in Prospect Heights. The two were given drugs and required to have regular sex with the defendant when not selling their bodies to customers. "
NY Daily News, December 12, 2018

Jury convicts Seth Mull of numerous rape and human trafficking charges
"After deliberating more than six hours Friday, a Northampton County jury convicted Seth Mull of 30 criminal charges that he targeted multiple women through online dating apps, then attacked, assaulted and raped them. In a crowded courtroom, women began crying with joy after the jury convicted Mull, 31, of Lower Saucon Township, of the majority of the 36 charges against him, including several convictions for human trafficking that could result in a life sentence. Judge Stephen Baratta, who presided over the weeklong trial, said Mull faces the possibility of "hundreds of years in prison," and revoked Mull's $1 million bail. Mull, who did not take the stand in his defense, will be sentenced later."
The Morning Call (PA), December 7, 2018

Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota
"Since Native women are at exceptionally high risk for poverty, homelessness, and sexual violence which are elements in the trafficking of women, and because the needs of Native women are generally not being met, and because prostituted women are at extremely high risk for violence and emotional trauma, our goal was to assess the life circumstances of Native women in prostitution in Minnesota, a group of women not previously studied in res earch such as this. We assessed their needs and the extent to which those needs are or are not being met. "
William Mitchell College of Law, October 27, 2011

Abused then arrested: inside California's crackdown on sex work
"Under the guise of "anti-trafficking" efforts, police practices in northern California and a new federal law have broadly affected adult sex workers both online and in the streets. The result, activists say, is a risk of increased violence and suffering for the very women whom lawmakers say they are rescuing. There have been two such anti-"human trafficking" sting operations in Sacramento this year, most recently in August, in which female officers pose as prostitutes. Prosecutors hailed the stings as targeting predatory men, and 16 men were arrested for soliciting. The stings are not, however, catching traffickers, and critics say theyhave only put workers in the industry at greater risk."
The Guardian, November 28, 2018

Doctors and cops among 277 arrested in human trafficking, online prostitution sting in Florida
"POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - A week-long undercover sting targeting human trafficking and online prostitution in Polk County ended with 277 arrests that included doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement officers. "That's the most we have ever arrested in the history of the sheriff's office," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "Operation No Tricks, No Treats" started last Tuesday, October 10 and ran through Monday, October 16. During that time, undercover detectives posted fake ads or profiles online posing as prostitutes or someone who solicits prostitutes. Other detectives responded to profiles and ads posted by prostitutes. According to the sheriff's office, 51 of the arrests were related to those who advertise as prostitutes online and 209 of the arrests were those who solicited undercover detectives posing as prostitutes. Seventeen arrests were made for other offenses. Sheriff Judd identified some of the suspects arrested in the undercover operation as doctors and pharmacists, former and current law enforcement officers, a lawyer, two men who traveled to have sex with minors and two sex offenders."
NBC News (Florida), October 19, 2017

Ex-Police Chief and 13 Others Arrested in Peru for Suspected Child Trafficking
"LIMA, Peru — Police arrested 14 people in Peru and took a five-month-old baby into protective custody, dismantling a human trafficking ring suspected of selling children taken from vulnerable women. The arrests were the result of an early morning raid on Tuesday that targeted a group "dedicated to the sale of minors and abortions," the Public Ministry of Peru said. Hundreds of police officers raided 18 homes and businesses in the city of Arequipa as part of the operation. Prosecutors had been investigating the organization since May and dubbed it the "Heartless Human Traffickers." One of the men arrested in the raid is the former head of the national police service, General Raúl Becerra Velarde, according to the public prosecutor. Mr. Becerra ran the police force from 2010 to 2011 before retiring."
NY Times, November 7, 2018

Brooklyn pimp gets up to 9 years in jail for luring underage girls to New York
"A heartless Brooklyn pimp who beat up and drugged women he lured to New York to work as prostitutes was sentenced to up to nine years in jail, officials said. Tariq Washington, 23, pleaded guilty to a count of sex trafficking last month, confessing he and a partner ran a call girl ring with underage teens they lured from out of state, including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cleveland. The defendants found the women on Backpage.com, then texted them and invited them to come to New York, sending them bus tickets and then posting their photos on the website, said Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez. "
NY Daily News, November 7, 2018

'I still feel sad and cry': Korean victim of Japanese forced labour awaits justice
"Nearly eight decades after he left the steel mills of Japan, Lee Chun-sik is still driven to tears by the memory of the beatings, burns and forced labour he endured. He left his native South Korea, which was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945, when he was just 17 years old for the promise of being trained as an engineer. But when he arrived in Kamaishi in 1941 he was a virtual prisoner. Lee says he was subject to beatings by Japanese guards if they were unsatisfied with his work, for which he was never paid."
The Guardian (UK), November 6, 2018

Man arrested for allegedly forcing missing teen into prostitution
"A Manhattan man was busted for allegedly forcing a Pennsylvania woman who vanished over a year ago into prostitution, authorities said Thursday. Ishi Woney, 23, was charged in Manhattan federal court Thursday with sex trafficking and sexually exploiting young women, including 19-year-old Corinna Slusser, who went missing in September 2017, officials said."
NY Post, November 1, 2018

Queens jury convicts married couple of forcing woman into prostitution
"A married couple could spend the next 25 years behind bars after they forced a woman into sex slavery, using violence and threats to compel her into having sex with multiple men in a Queens hotel. A jury found Elizabeth O'Sullivan, 31, of Brooklyn, and her husband, Lee Vargas, 34, of Stroudsburg, Pa., guilty Wednesday of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution, after a five-week trial in Queens Supreme Court. The 21-year-old victim thought the couple was hiring her to work as a stripper when they picked her up in Massachusetts in October 2016, prosecutors said. Instead, they forced her to have sex with several men a day, and took the money she earned. "
NY Daily News, October 25, 2018

Rescued 'slave' thought to have lived in a shed in Cumbria for 40 years
"Specialist officers have rescued a potential modern slavery victim who is believed to have lived in a six-foot shed for 40 years. An investigation is under way after the 58-year-old British man was found in the wooden structure, which contained just a chair and soiled bedding, at a residential site north of Carlisle in Cumbria. A 79-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences, while the victim was taken to be medically examined and assessed by specialist trauma officers. Officers from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which works to protect vulnerable and exploited workers, found the man in a dawn raid on Wednesday after a call to a confidential helpline. "The information that was given to us was that he had been kept in the shed for a period of 40 years," Martin Plimmer, GLAA senior investigating officer, told the BBC."
The Guardian (UK), October 3, 2018

Houston woman gets 40 years in prison for trying to sell 2-year-old daughter for sex
"CONROE, Texas — A Houston woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that she offered to sell her 2-year-old daughter for sex at a cost of $1,200. Twenty-five-year-old Sarah Marie Peters was sentenced Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to charges that include promotion of prostitution. Authorities say undercover officers in Montgomery County, north of Houston, encountered Peters online on a social media site. They say she forwarded photos of young girls and asked if there was anyone who wanted "to have fun" with her daughter. Detectives watched Peters board a bus in Houston with her daughter to travel to Conroe where she thought she was meeting a man who would pay for the child."
AP, July 13, 2018

Trump's Oklahoma campaign chair to plead guilt to child sex trafficking
"Ralph Shortey, a former Oklahoma state senator who last year served as Donald Trump's campaign chair in the state, was meticulous about keeping up his reputation as a pious man, according to several fellow Oklahomans. That reputation, however, has all but disappeared. According to Shortey's attorney, the former Republican lawmaker will plead guilty to one count of child sex trafficking on Nov. 30. Ralph Shortey is facing felony child prostitution charges after police say he solicited sex from a 17-year-old boy.Cleveland County Sheriff's Office via AP Shortey, a 35-year-old married father of three, resigned from the state Legislature in March after being charged with several felonies, including engaging in child prostitution, after police found him in a hotel room with a 17-year-old male. Shortey's attorney, Ed Blau, confirmed that his client will plead guilty to a charge of child sex trafficking in exchange for U.S. prosecutors' dropping three child pornography charges against him."
ABC News, November 20, 2017

Mother arrested for allegedly selling young children
"Jail officials over at the Nueces County Jail have released the mugshot of a mother accused of selling her children. DPS Troopers released a statement to KRIS 6 News about an investigation and a raid that happened Friday morning, June 29th, 2018 in the Corpus Christi area. The news release states that agents located a seven-year-old boy, who was allegedly sold by 29-year-old Esmeralda Garza. The boy was purchased by two other males according to jail records. Investigators added the investigation uncovered that two more children were in the process of being sold. DPS Troopers said Garza was attempting to sell two children, a two-year-old girl, and a three-year-old girl. Garza was arrested and charged with sale or purchase of a child, which investigators say is a third-degree felony. She was taken to the Nueces County Jail and her bond amount was set at $100,000."
Fox News, July 4, 2018

Operation Sanctuary: Newcastle child sex network convicted
"Eighteen people have been convicted of abusing girls in Newcastle who were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to have sex. The vulnerable victims, some as young as 14, were exploited by a "cynical organisation", a court heard. The 17 men and one woman were convicted of rape, supplying drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution. Over the course of four trials, 20 young women gave evidence covering a period from 2011 to 2014. These trials involved 26 defendants facing a total of more than 100 charges and 22 victims."
BBC News, August 9, 2017

Pastor pleads guilty in sex trafficking of teen girls
"TOLEDO, Ohio — One of three Ohio pastors accused of conspiring to recruit teenage girls to have sex with them has pleaded guilty to federal charges, including child sex trafficking. Thirty-eight-year-old Kenneth Butler also pleaded guilty Monday in Toledo to a related conspiracy charge and obstructing a sex trafficking investigation. He acknowledged having sex with two minors. Butler's plea deal calls for him to get over 17 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 12."
AP, May 14, 2018

MOTHER USES 6-YEAR-OLD AND 5-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTERS IN TRADE FOR SEX AND CASH
""John," who raped and physically injured vaginal area of 5-year-old, convicted Atlanta–Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr., announces the GUILTY PLEA by the victims' mother, 25-year-old MORGAN SUMMERLIN, and the RAPE AND TRAFFICKING A PERSON FOR SEXUAL SERVITUDE conviction, by a Fulton County Superior Court Jury, of 78-year-old RICHARD OFFICE. On April 29, 2017, the two young victims, who are sisters, were living with temporary legal guardians because their mother, Morgan Summerlin, was jailed in Bay County, Florida. That morning, the 5-year-old and 6-year-old sisters said that while in their mother's custody a man who they called "Pop" touched their private parts and "humped" the 5-year-old girl, causing her to bleed from her vaginal area. The victims told their guardians that their mother, Summerlin, took them to men's homes to be molested and raped for money. In this case, the victims knew "Pop," later identified as Richard Office, as a man who gave their mother drugs. The girls told their legal guardians that earlier in 2017 while, Summerlin, their mother waited in the living room of Richard Office's Palmetto home, the defendant took them to his bedroom where he tongue-kissed both girls and touched them all over their bodies. The victims said "Pop" raped the younger sister while the older sister rubbed his feet. Afterward, Office gave the girls one-hundred dollars, and the girls' mother immediately took the money from them. "
Fulton County (GA) DA, May 4, 2018

Who buys a trafficked child for sex? Otherwise ordinary men.
"More than 1 million children, according to the International Labour Organization, are exploited each year in the commercial sex trade. IndyStar columnist Tim Swarens, through the support of a Society of Professional Journalists fellowship, spent more than a year investigating a lucrative business where children are abused with low risk to buyers or traffickers, despite tougher laws and heightened international awareness of the scourge. Google, Eli Lilly and Co., and Indiana Wesleyan University provided additional support for this project. This is the first of 10 columns in the EXPLOITED series, which explores the cultural and economic forces that contribute to commercial sexual exploitation."
USAToday, January 30, 2018

Trump-backing former judge pleads guilty to human trafficking charges
"Tim Nolan is facing up to 20 years behind bars. (Shae Combs/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP) A Trump-supporting Kentucky man who previously served as a district judge pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes on Friday, including human trafficking. Tim Nolan, the self-proclaimed chair of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Campbell County, could face up to 20 years behind bars for felony charges that also include promoting human trafficking of minors and unlawful transaction with minors, according to a press release from the Kentucky attorney general's office. The 70-year-old former judge was arrested in April and was later indicted on 28 felony counts and a pair of misdemeanor charges. As part of a plea agreement, Nolan pleaded guilty to 21 of those charges, which involved 19 victims. He's also required to pay a $110,000 fine — the bulk of which will be donated to the Human Trafficking Victims fund established by state Lawmakers in 2013."
NY Daily News, February 9, 2018

Alleged pimps accused of forcing 20-year-old into prostitution hit with more charges
" A pair of accused pimps, while out on bail, were handcuffed and hit with additional sex trafficking charges as they walked into a Queens court hearing. Terrance "Staxx" Jackman, 36, and Zulay "Mocca" Guerrero, 35, were already facing charges of forcing a 20-year-old woman into prostitution when they were busted outside Queens Criminal Court Tuesday, authorities said. "It was quite a surprise," said Guerrero's lawyer Randall Unger who was already inside the courtroom when he learned of the new arrest. A nine-count indictment accuses the pair of pimping out a girl and woman for four years, starting in 2013 when the victims were ages 17 and 23."
NY Daily News, February 1, 2018

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was literally the only person to vote against an anti-human trafficking bill
"One is the loneliest number — and in this case, that loneliest number is Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. On Dec. 19, Gaetz cast the lone "no" vote on a widely bipartisan human trafficking bill that passed unanimously through the U.S. Senate in September before sailing through the House by a count of 418 to 1. The legislation — the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act — is an attempt to give the federal government more resources to combat the sex trade in the U.S., such as a human trafficking prevention coordinator at the U.S. Department of Transportation and a committee in the department to help develop best practices to fight human trafficking. "
Orlando Weekly, December 29, 2017

Houston woman known as 'Bones Marie' charged with forcing runaway girl, 14, into human trafficking
" Denise Coronado, who also goes by the name "Bones Marie," allegedly forced a 14-year-old runaway to have sex with more than 20 men earlier this month. Prosecutors said during a hearing the victim told officers that she was walking down a street when she was suddenly grabbed and thrown into a van, Fox 26 reported."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, March 22, 2017

Brutal Queens pimp kidnapped girl, 15, and woman, 21, forcing them into prostitution
"Corey Hannah, 34, of Hollis, met his teenage victim when she was just 14, and, over the course of two months in 2016, raped her and forced her to have sex with men in hotels, officials said."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, March 13, 2017

Greene couple arrested for listing baby on Craigslist
"John David Cain Jr., 26, and Deanna Greer, 38, both of Greenville, listed the 5-month old on Craigslist for $3,000. The Sheriff's Office found out on a tip from the Elizabethton Police Department and notified the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI."
http://www.knoxnews.com, March 25, 2017

Pair accused of gifting daughters to older man in Bucks enter pleas
"Police ultimately found the family, including the couple's nine daughters and two grandchildren, living with Kaplan when a neighbor's tip led them to search his Philadelphia-area home last June. Authorities later charged him with sexually assaulting six of the girls."
http://www.delcotimes.com, April 6, 2017

Winston-Salem woman gets up to 16 years for forcing 12-year-old girl into prostitution
"A Winston-Salem woman was sentenced to a maximum of 16 years in prison on charges she forced a 12-year-old girl into a life of prostitution. The girl was raped by men, became pregnant at 14 and ended up getting an abortion and contracting a sexually-transmitted disease."
http://www.journalnow.com, Apr 28, 2017

Renowned Queens music teacher busted on sex trafficking charges
"Oliver Sohngen, 52, who owns the Long Island City Academy of Music, was busted by federal agents at his Queens home on Tuesday morning."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, May 17, 2017

Former district judge charged with human trafficking
"Nolan, 70, who has been outspoken in conservative politics and the tea party movement in recent years, was elected to the Campbell County School Board in November. He was also the chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign in Campbell County."
https://www.cincinnati.com, April 21, 2017

Man busted for allegedly kidnapping 15-year-old girl and forcing her into prostitution in Queens
" A 15-year-old girl was kidnapped for four months by a 24-year-old man who pimped her out from inside a senior affordable housing unit affiliated with a prominent Queens church, prosecutors said. The teen was allegedly forced to become a prostitute by Joseph Gilbert, who was indicted Thursday on kidnapping charges."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 1, 2017

Daughters of couple who 'gifted' them to Pennsylvania man say they had sex with him because they considered him their husband
"Prosecutors say Lee Donald Kaplan sexually assaulted six daughters of a couple who had "gifted" them to him because he helped them financially. Kaplan, 52, fathered two children by the oldest daughter, who's now 19."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 2, 2017

Brooklyn couple indicted for pimping out two 14-year-old girls
"A Brooklyn grand jury indicted Anthony (Royalty) Young, 30, and his girlfriend Shaunda Swanson, 23, for running the rolling bordello and brokering sexual encounters with the girls at hotels in Brooklyn, Long Island, and Elizabeth, N.J."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 20, 2017

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/arrested-sex-trafficking-teens-brooklyn-apartment-article-1.3333756
" A 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested Saturday after one of the victims escaped the Crown Heights rental on Lincoln Place and ran home. The victim then told cops she had been in captivity for about a month and pointed police to the lair. When cops got there, they found a second victim being held against her will."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, July 18, 2017

South Korean kids sent to live with Queens couple were treated like slaves: DA
" For six years, Sook Yeong Park, 50, and Jeong Taek Lee, 54, abused the brother, who is now 14; and sister, who is now 16, beating them and forcing them to sleep on a floor or in a closet. Even though the children's parents sent money for their care, the boy and the girl were forced to earn money outside the Flushing home at grocery stores, a nail salon and as baby-sitters to pay for their living expenses."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, July 20, 2017

Pennsylvania couple who gifted daughters as 'sex slaves' to cult-like figure sentenced to up to 7 years in prison
"Authorities said Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus gave their oldest girl to Lee Donald Kaplan because he helped them out of financial trouble when they broke with their Amish faith. Kaplan fathered two children with the girl, the first when she was 14. She is now in her late teens."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, July 20, 2017

Driver in Human Smuggling Operation Charged, Could Face Death Penalty
" The suspect, James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Fla., appeared briefly in court Monday morning, hours after officials announced that a 10th victim in the case had died. Bradley was taken into custody after authorities made a gruesome discovery over the weekend: dozens of suspected migrants crammed into the back of an overcrowded, sweltering 18-wheeler in a San Antonio, Texas, parking lot. "
https://www.nbcnews.com, Jul 24 2017

Woman allegedly pimped by former NYPD detective at 13 years old gets OK to sue city
"Brooklyn Federal Judge Nina Gershon said the woman — now in her 20s and identified only as "H.H." — sufficiently showed a potential jury could reasonably buy the argument that police brass should've known former Detective Wayne Taylor was a problem before his 2008 conviction."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 7, 2017

Parents arrested for trying to exchange sons for money or drugs
"California parents of two boys tried to sell their kids in exchange for money or drugs, authorities say. Cops did not say how Vincent Calogero and Sarah Nilson were caught, but law enforcement officials thanked residents of Lancaster for their diligence. "We remind the public if you see something suspicious, say something!" the Los Angeles County sheriff's office wrote in a press release on Monday. Deputies responded to a possible child abuse call in Lancaster on Thursday and later arrested the couple."
NY Daily News, December 19, 2017

Queens music school founder admits to trying to buy kid sex from pimp
" The founder of a Queens music school who used a pimp to try to buy sex from girls as young as 8 has pleaded guilty to federal sex-trafficking charges. Oliver Sohngen, 53, quietly pleaded to the charges Thursday before Judge Ronald Ellis in federal court in Manhattan, records show. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 27. Sohngen, founder of the Long Island City Academy of Music, was arrested May 16, after authorities found a series of incriminating text messages on the phone of a Bronx-based pimp."
NY Daily News, August 14, 2017

Pimp gets 15 years for torturing, turning teen into sex slave
" A pimp who forced a woman into prostitution for nearly a decade will spend up to 15 years behind bars for sex trafficking, Manhattan prosecutors said Thursday. Rayshon Young, 39, psychologically and physically tortured the victim — whom he met when she was 17 years old — to turn her into a sex slave. From November 2007 to October 2014, Young took all of the victim's earnings and pummeled her when she didn't bring in enough cash or if she broke his rules, according to the Manhattan district attorney."
NY Daily News, August 17, 2017

Eight Mexican sex trafficking suspects may face life in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering charges in NYC
" Eight members of a Mexican sex trafficking ring admitted to racketeering and other charges as Brooklyn federal prosecutors and national authorities keep up the fight against sex slavery. Prosecutors said the members of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization forced young women from Mexico and Latin America to prostitute themselves in places like New York and Georgia."
NY Daily News, April 21, 2017

New Jersey woman admits forcing 16-year-old into 'hellish life of sexual slavery'
"A New Jersey woman who went by the nickname "China White" pleaded guilty Wednesday to forcing a 16-year-old girl from New York into prostitution, officials said. Jessica Copeland, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree facilitating human trafficking, N.J. Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said in a news release. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that Copeland be sentenced to six years in state prison, including no parole for three years."
Fox News, September 14, 2017

Pimp cop gets five years in prison for employing teen prostitute
" An ex-cop, who moonlighted as a pimp, will spend more than five years behind bars for peddling a 16-year-old girl's flesh. Eduardo Cornejo, was still working for the NYPD when he started running a prostitution ring of at least 10 women — including a girl Brooklyn federal prosecutors say was turning tricks for him when she was 16. Cornejo, 35, said he didn't know the teen was underage, but pleaded guilty last September to conspiring to engage in sex trafficking of a child."
NY Daily News, September 28, 2017

FBI child trafficking crackdown leads to 120 arrests and rescue of 84 kids, including 3-month-old baby
"A nationwide crackdown on child trafficking resulted in the arrest of 120 offenders and the rescue of 84 young victims, including one who is just 3 months old. The infant and her 5-year-old sister, who live in the Denver area, were saved after a friend staying with the family made a deal with an undercover officer to sell both children "for sex in exchange for $600," according to the FBI. "Operation Cross Country" involved 55 FBI field offices and 78 local task forces, the law enforcement agency said Wednesday. Sting operations over a four-day period took place in hotels, casinos and truck stops."
NY Daily News, October 19, 2017

Queens music school founder admits to trying to buy kid sex from pimp
" The founder of a Queens music school who used a pimp to try to buy sex from girls as young as 8 has pleaded guilty to federal sex-trafficking charges. Oliver Sohngen, 53, quietly pleaded to the charges Thursday before Judge Ronald Ellis in federal court in Manhattan, records show. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 27. Sohngen, founder of the Long Island City Academy of Music, was arrested May 16, after authorities found a series of incriminating text messages on the phone of a Bronx-based pimp."
NY Daily News, August 14, 2017

Police say Worcester man imprisoned 14-year-old girl for weeks after paying to bring her to America
"A Worcester man is accused of paying $5,000 to have a 14-year-old girl from El Salvador smuggled across the United States border, then keeping her locked inside an apartment for weeks while allegedly sexually assaulting her."
Worcester News - MassLive.com, January 17, 2017.

Chicago man charged with Christmas Eve murder of 16-year-old escort found on Backpage.com
"Now charged with first-degree murder, Antonio Rosales, 32, contacted Desiree Robinson through Backpage.com, a site that hosts classified ads, including an adult section that offers everything from strippers and dominatrixes to "body rubs.""
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, December 31, 2016.

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
"Some 500 crimes of human trafficking were exposed in Belarus in the first nine months of this year, including more than 160 cases when the victims were taken abroad. "
http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Belarus.htm.

30-year-old charged with trafficking teen runaway in Central Texas
"A 30-year-old man was arrested Wednesday during a traffic stop in New Braunfels who police said was trafficking a juvenile for prostitution across multiple states.
Roderick Tasby faces a first-degree felony charge of trafficking of persons, a third-degree felony charge of tampering with evidence, and Class B misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and failure to identify. "
http://www.mysanantonio.com, January 27, 2017.

Violent Backpage.com pimp Leon Brown guilty of sex trafficking
"Leon Brown, 41, was convicted of three counts of sex trafficking, two counts of promoting prostitution and a single count of criminal contempt in a jury verdict Tuesday afternoon after a week-long trial in Manhattan Supreme Court."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 27, 2013.

38 Jailed in Human Trafficking Undercover Operation
"Law enforcement officers across Southern California worked together last week to target people who purchase people for sex in an investigation dubbed "Operation Reclaim and Rebuild.""
http://www.nbcsandiego.com, January 31, 2017.

Warrant: Central Texas man forced teen into sex, threatened to 'kill her family'
"James Aaron Lenox, of Del Valle, was charged with a first-degree felony of trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct. His bond has been set at $1 million.
Prior to his Monday arrest, Lenox was arrested in Comal County in early January for possession of child pornography, possession of marijuana and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence."
San Antonio Express-News, February 7, 2017.

Pimp who smuggled women from Mexico to Queens in sex trafficking ring gets 16 years after victim details harrowing abuse
" Before learning his fate, Paulino Ramirez-Granados sat quietly as his brave victim detailed the "extreme abuse" she suffered at the hands of the merciless Mexican national.
"Paulino was routinely threatening to me, and treated me like less than a human being," the victim said in Brooklyn Federal Court, choking up as she spoke."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, February 24, 2017.

Trucker saves victim of torture at a PILOT station after recognizing the signs of sex trafficking
"Kimmel called the police, but what he didn't know was the young girl was not only a victim of sex trade, she was also a victim of torture. An Iowa couple, Aldair Hodza, 36, and Laura Sorensen, 31, have been charged with human trafficking. The victim was found starved, disheveled and had evidence of extreme physical abuse, sexual abuse — and torture."
www.dailykos.com, June 24, 2016.

Bronx pimp pleads guilty to making runaway prostitute work for him in Hunts Point
"Shakiem Washington, 35, faces up to 11 years behind bars after pimping out the helpless woman on the streets of Hunts Point, and in Brooklyn and Queens, said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 16, 2016.

Mother accused of 'gifting' 14-year-old daughter to Pennsylvania man denied bail request
" Savilla Stoltzfus, 42, and her husband are charged with child endangerment for their involvement with 51-year-old Lee Kaplan, whose home in Feasterville was investigated by police last week.
Authorities say Daniel Stoltzfus told them he and his wife gave their then-14-year-old daughter to Kaplan because he had given them money."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 25, 2016.

NYC couple charged with running prostitution ring in N.J. motels
" Benson Chin got 21 months in prison, while his wife, Hong Ping He, 46, was put away for seven months.
The couple had pleaded guilty last October in Manhattan federal court to transporting two undocumented Chinese women across state lines from Flushing, Queens to Neptune, N.J. to work as prostitutes, prosecutors said."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 30, 2016.

Former seminary student who sought infants from Mexico to sexually abuse slammed with nearly 16 years in prison
"Joel Wright, 23, pleaded guilty in April to a federal charge of attempted enticement of a minor. The former student of Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, admitted that he authored sexually explicit emails in which he described his desire to assault children, from infants up to the age of 4."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 2, 2016.

Roughly 3,000 women and girls are sold on ISIS sex slave market using Telegram, WhatsApp
"The advertisement on the Telegram app is as chilling as it is incongruous: A girl for sale is "Virgin. Beautiful. 12 years old.... Her price has reached $12,500 and she will be sold soon."
The posting in Arabic appeared on an encrypted conversation along with ads for kittens, weapons and tactical gear. It was shared with The Associated Press by an activist with the minority Yazidi community, whose women and children are being held as sex slaves by the extremists."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 6, 2016.

Two men, three women in Louisiana kept autistic woman in cage and planned to force her into prostitution
" Investigators found the woman wandering around the backyard covered with insect bites and looking malnourished, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff.
She was often locked into the kennel-like crate, blanketed by a tarp, to keep her from wandering away before she was rescued on June 30."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, July 8, 2016.

Merciless Brooklyn pimp who forced teen girls into prostitution slapped with 30-year prison sentence
"A convicted Brooklyn sex trafficker who insisted he's just a "two-bit pimp" and not a monster, was hammered Monday with a 30-year-jail term for prostituting underage girls on the streets of Brooklyn."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 22, 2016.

Canada's stolen daughters: Sex traffickers target indigenous Canadians
"Canada's indigenous population is very small -- just 4% of the population -- yet more than 50% of all sex trafficking victims in Canada are indigenous. The reasons are complicated and varied but are ultimately rooted in a legacy of poverty, racism and abuse. "
www.cnn.com, August 23, 2016.

Mom sought men to sexually assault daughter, 10
"The mother of a 10-year-old girl found dead and dismembered in her New Mexico home told police that she sought men online to sexually assault her daughter.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Michelle Martens told police she had set up encounters with at least three men. The child's brutal death sparked vigils and outcry across New Mexico."
Associated Press, September 14, 2016.

Death penalty call for accused Australian child sex predator Peter Scully in Philippines
"Prosecutors in the Philippines have revealed they will call for the death penalty to be re-introduced in the case of alleged Australian child sex predator and 'dark web' mastermind Peter Scully."
www.theage.com.au, September 20, 2016.

Brazilian cops rescue 8 kids from beach sex-trafficking ring
" RIO DE JANEIRO — Police say they have rescued eight minors who were being forced to work in a sex-trafficking ring at the beaches near the main Olympic hub. The cops said three of the people were 15 or 16 years old, according to comments published Sunday. The teens had been forced to work as prostitutes at the beaches of the Recreio neighborhood."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 11, 2016.

Myanmar human rights leaders resign over child abuse scandal
"Four members of Myanmar's human rights commission resigned Thursday, after the body was pilloried for failing to help two girls allegedly tortured for years at a tailor's shop.
The two teenagers said they spent five years as virtual slaves in the shop in the commercial capital Yangon, where they were beaten, stabbed, burnt and deprived of sleep and food."
AFP, October 6, 2016.

Local girl caught up in human trafficking
"A Sawyer County teenage girl, who was persuaded by a 15-year-old boy to leave her home, eventually found herself in Green Bay, the victim of human trafficking, a modern form of slavery.
With the help of relatives and the Ashwaubenon Department of Public Safety, the girl was rescued and a case against her traffickers is being prosecuted in Brown County."
APG WIS. NEWSWIRE, July 18, 2016.

Pennsylvania man charged with fathering two children with girl whose parents 'gifted' her; 12 girls found in home
"Lee Kaplan, 51, and the girl's parents, former members of an Amish community, were arrested Thursday after police searched his Feasterville home on a report of child welfare concerns, Lower Southampton police Detective Sgt. Shane Hearn told the Bucks County Courier Times."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 17, 2016.

Accused global sex-trafficking ring busted with U.S., international arrests
"More than a dozen people have been arrested and accused of running an international sex-trafficking ring that held hundreds of Thai women trapped in debt bondage across the United States, authorities said on Wednesday."
Reuters, October 5, 2016.

Alleged Queens pimp beat, raped, and imprisoned 19-year-old woman, says prosecutor
"He told her she was "his property," kept her in the basement of his family's home in Queens, and beat and starved her when she didn't make $500 a night from prostitution, prosecutors said.
And when she called 911 in a desperate bid for freedom, he slammed a heavy skillet into her knee, and yanked her by the hair until she dropped the phone."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, February 11, 2016.

Iowa couple sentenced after kidnapping and torturing woman, forcing her to work as prostitute in RV
" An Iowa couple will spend at least 40 years in prison after luring a young woman into their RV and torturing her with bleach, nails and searing items while forcing her into prostitution.
Aldair Hodza, 36, and Laura Sorensen, 31, offered apologies to their 20-year-old victim Friday but got little, if any, sympathy from a judge who described her physical and psychological wounds as likely permanent."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 17, 2015.

Trafficking sting saves 149 exploited children
"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A nationwide sweep called Operation Cross Country IX recovered 149 sexually exploited children, the youngest of whom was 12, including one from the Jacksonville area, and led to the arrests of more than 150 pimps and other individuals.
The FBI partnered with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for the operation, which was conducted in 135 cities."
www.news4jax.com, October 14, 2015.

Great moments in government: HHS handed children to human traffickers
"Rarely has "We're from the government and we're here to help" been less amusing or more outraging. In the wake of the massive rush of minors across the southern border, the Department of Health and Human Services placed many of them in homes in order to outsource their care. Thanks to a lack of vetting, though, a dozen or more ended up in modern slavery, handed over to known human traffickers. The New York Times' Emmarie Huetteman reports on a Senate investigation that ripped HHS for its incompetence:"
hotair.com, January 29, 2016.

Missouri couple charged in federal court with running teen prostitution ring; one alleged victim was 12
" A Missouri couple has been charged in federal court with running a national teenage prostitution ring with at least five underage girls, including a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old who was lured off the streets with the promise of a modeling job, authorities said.
Marcus Dewayne Thompson, 28, and Robin Thompson, 24, forced the girls into prostitution with threats and beatings, according to a complaint filed in an East St. Louis court by the U.S. Attorney's Office."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 26, 2015.

The Underage Girls Of Mexico's Sex Trade: Hope Amid The Horror
"The report that ISIS is forcing girls as young as 12 to become sex slaves is part of a larger issue. In the world today, an estimated 2 million underage girls work in the sex trade.
A new study details the situation in Mexico, where researchers found that one in four sex workers in Tijuana and Juarez say they were forced into the sex trade as minors — under age 18 — and one in eight say they were 15 or younger."
www.npr.org, August 18, 2015.

Senators Oppose Upgrade for Malaysia in Trafficking Report
"WASHINGTON — Eighteen U.S. senators are expressing deep concern that Malaysia could be lifted from a human trafficking blacklist.
A U.S. government official told The Associated Press last week that Malaysia will be upgraded from the lowest "tier 3" ranking it received in last year's State Department report on Trafficking in Persons."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 15, 2015.

Mexico Arrests Suspect in Forced–Prostitution Ring
"The group was apparently centered in Tenancingo, an impoverished town in Tlaxcala state. The region has long been a notorious haven for pimps who use a combination of threats, abuse and broken promises of marriage and jobs to put women and girls, some only in their teens, on a path to sex slavery in Mexico City and in large cities in the United States."
New York Times, April 30, 2015.

Suspect negotiates child sex with 'father,' shows up with Disney costume for girl in Florida federal sting
"Federal agents in Florida said they caught Michael Doherty, 51, trying to meet up in a hotel room with a fake sexually abusive father and his kid earlier this month. Investigators had responded to a pervy online ad he posted and exchanged messages with Doherty in the guise of the dad for weeks, according to a criminal complaint cited by the Orlando Sentinel."
Daily News, April 28, 2015.

UN report: 2014 marked by extremists' use of rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage
"UNITED NATIONS—Secretary-General Ban Ki–moon said 2014 was marked by harrowing accounts of rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage being used by extremists including the Islamic State group and Boko Haram.
In a report released Monday, the U.N. chief expressed 'grave concern' over sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups, including those promoting extremist ideologies in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Libya and Yemen.
'The confluence of crises wrought by violent extremism has revealed a shocking trend of sexual violence employed as a tactic of terror by radical groups,' Ban said."
Daily News, April 14, 2015.

Rapper arrested after allegedly coercing 16–year–old girl to dance at his Baton Rouge strip club, cops say
"A Baton Rouge rapper was arrested Wednesday in connection with an unlicensed Louisiana strip joint where cops found a 16–year–old runaway dancing for money."
Daily News, April 02, 2015.

Dad arranged marriage for daughter, 12, with older man to stop her from premarital sex: reports
"Fearing his daughter would soon become sexually active, he arranged a marriage with a then–26–year–old man, who had sex with his daughter four times at a hotel and the father's home, according to Sky News.
He believed his daughter was old enough to make decisions about marriage.
'It was stopping a sin,' the father, who is not identified because his underaged daughter is the victim of a sexual assault, told investigators. 'It was something I had to do'."
Daily News, April 01, 2015.

Indonesian maid vows to fight on after Hong Kong court victory
"'I feel very happy and relieved (after the verdict and sentencing) but in the back of my mind I think: 'If migrant workers are still being treated the same, what's it all for'?"
AFP, March 01, 2015.

Nepalese boys pay high price for marrying in childhood
"Nepalese law prohibits marriage before age 18 but the practice of marrying boys as early as 7 remains common in the poor, predominantly Hindu communities along the border with India. Aid workers are starting to document the physical and psychological strain on these boys' lives."
Seattle Times, February 07, 2015.

Woman in Spain arrested for allegedly procuring wives for ISIS
"Spanish prosecutors confirmed the arrest of Francis Carolina Pena Orellana, 25, and six other people as part of a police investigation into those believed to be recruiting members for the Islamic State. According to Spanish Minister of the Interior Jorge Fernandez, police believe Orellana's main task was to convince the women to convert to Islam and make them marry or become girlfriends of ISIS fighters."
Daily News, December 17, 2014.

Slave girl kept in cellar awarded £100,000 in court
"London (AFP) – A deaf and mute girl smuggled to Britain and kept as a slave for almost a decade must be paid £100,000 by her captors, a court ruled.
Trafficked from Pakistan as a 10–year–old girl, the victim was repeatedly raped by Ilyas Ashar, 85, who along with his wife Tallat, 69, forced her to work as their servant."
AFP, October 16, 2014.

Former Korean 'comfort women' for U.S. troops sue own government
"The suit comes as an embarrassing distraction for the South Korean government, which has pushed Japan to properly atone for what it says were World War Two atrocities including forcing women, many of them Korean, to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers.
The women claim the South Korean government trained them and worked with pimps to run a sex trade through the 1960s and 1970s for U.S. troops, encouraged women to work as prostitutes and violated their human rights."
Reuters Press, July 11, 2014.

Brides for Sale: Vietnamese Women Trafficked to China
"Lao Cai (Vietnam) (AFP)—Vulnerable women in countries close to China — not only Vietnam but also North Korea, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar — are being forced into marriages in the land of the one–child policy, experts say.
China suffers from one of the worst gender imbalances in the world as families prefer male children."
AFP, June 25, 2014.

U.S. Blacklists Thailand, Malaysia over trafficking
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Failure to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking has landed Thailand and Malaysia on a State Department blacklist, a move that could strain relations with two important U.S. partners in Asia.
The department, however, improved its rating of strategic rival China, citing Beijing's steps to abolish re–education–through–labor camps."
The Associated Press, June 20, 2014.

Criminal gangs 'crippling children and forcing them to work as beggars'
"Most of the beggars were disabled children—many of them limbless or suffering from gruesome wounds—who had been stolen, abducted and even 'rented' from their hometowns and brought to Dongguan for this profitable 'business', Wang—who is himself physically disabled—was cited as saying.
'The more severely handicapped they are, the more valuable they are,' Wang said."
South China Morning Post, March 20, 2014.

Police Nab Cartel Member in Organ Trafficking Case
"Ring would kidnap children, take them to homes to have organs removed, official said."
USA Today, March 17, 2014.

Women recall trauma, being forced to have sex with up to 60 men a day at sentencing of pimps in New York sex trafficking ring
Brothers Benito Lopez-Perez, 35, Anastasio Romero-Perez, 40, and Jose Gabino Barrientos-Perez, 52, were sentenced to prison in a Brooklyn courtroom for their sex trafficking ring. Their victims served men in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and were also subject to brutal beatings.
Daily News, February 07, 2014

Girl smuggled into Britain to have her organs harvested
"The unnamed girl was brought to the UK from Somalia with the intention of removing her organs and selling them on to those desperate for a transplant."
The Telegraph, October 18, 2014.

Americans use the Internet to abandon children adopted from overseas
Reuters Investigates, September 09, 2013

Australian pair in L.A. convicted for making child porn with 'adopted son' from Russia
Daily News, June 29, 2013

Challenges of Human Trafficking in Nigeria
AllAfrica.com, January 03, 2013

Father and son busted on sex–ring raps
Daily News, April 23, 2012

Traffickers set a daily target for child beggars
"BANGALORE: Nine–year–old Mamata (name changed) dreaded returning home without Rs 200 in her tiny pocket after begging all day on the streets of Bangalore. Her mother and her companion had set the child a daily target of Rs 200 every time she was sent out to the streets.
Such stories unfolded after Bangalore police and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) rescued over 300 children with help from NGOs in a day-long Operation Rakshana on December 2. The children had been pushed into begging."
The Times of India: Bangalore, December 16, 2011.

Bangladesh arrest uncovers evidence of children forced into begging
"The arrest of a senior gang member in Bangladesh has revealed details of how criminals abduct and maim children before putting them to work as beggars.
The existence of such practices has been reported frequently throughout south Asia, and featured in the Oscar–winning film Slumdog Millionaire, set in India. But details and hard evidence have been rare.
The case in Bangladesh was uncovered by human rights campaigners and a local television company late last year. On 28 December authorities arrested a suspected member of a gang based in the Kamrangirchar area of the capital, Dhaka.
The Guardian, January 9, 2011.

Shared Hope International Releases America's Child Sex Trafficking Report Card
AOL, December 02, 2011

Veteran NYPD cop busted in Albany for stalking 11–year–old girl on way to school
Daily News, June 24, 2010

5 charged in New Jersey child rape case
CNN, April 4, 2010

Nigeria doctor 'impregnated girls and sold the babies'
BBC News, December 31, 2009

Running in the Shadows: For Runaways on the Street, Sex Buys Survival
New York Times, October 27, 2009

Report: 10,000 People in U.S. Work in Forced Labor
The Associated Press, September 24, 2004

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report
From the U.S. Department of State, June 2004

People Smuggler Gets Life In Prison For Cuban Woman's Death
Sun-Sentinel, November 22, 2002

Judge: Private Cause of Action Exists for Involuntary Servitude
New York Law Journal, August 21, 2002

Babies Stolen For Sale On Chinese Black Market
The Times, February 1, 2002

Pair Convicted of Enslaving Housekeeper
Washington Post, December 21, 2001

African Children 'Being Held for Debts'
BBC News, December 19, 2001

Feds: Woman Trafficked Vermont Girls to NYC
ABC News, December 14, 2001

Lawyers Told to Act Against Central America's Child Sex Trade
OneWorld.net, November 1, 2001

Harsh Chinese Reality Feeds a Black Market in Women
New York Times, June 25, 2001

I.N.S. Both Jailer and Parent to Children Without Nation
New York Times, June 24, 2001

East: Trafficking Of Women On Rise In Eastern Europe (Part 1)
Russia: With No Jobs At Home, Women Fall Victim To Trafficking (Part 2)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 23, 2001

Russian Women Fight Sex Trafficking
Associated Press, May 16, 2001

US Breaks Up Human Smuggling Ring
Associated Press, May 4, 2001

U.S. to Crack Down on Human Trafficking, Ashcroft Says
Kansas City Star, March 27, 2001

Child Asylum Seekers Sold For Sex
BBC News, March 8, 2001

EU 'to Protect' Sex Slaves
BBC News, March 8, 2001

Mafia Makes Billions From Trafficking People U.N. Says
Reuters, December 15, 2000

U.S. Slavery Did Not End in 1865
Times Daily, April 3, 2000

New U.S. Slave Trade
International Herald Tribune, April 3, 2000

Global Programme Against the Trafficking in Human Beings
An outline for action from the UN Center for International Crime Prevention, 1999 [PDF]

Contemporary Forms of Slavery
U.N. High Commission for Human Rights fact sheet regarding contemporary forms of slavery, including trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, and the sale of children (June 1991)

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ORGANIZATIONS/AGENCIES
(click here for Articles/Information/Research)

Amnesty International
322 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 807-8400
www.amnesty.org

Anti-Slavery International
Thomas Clarkson House
The Stableyard, Broomgrove Road
London SW9 9TL
United Kingdom
Phone: 020 7501 8920
www.antislavery.org
ASI works to abolish "modern slavery," including bonded and forced labor, child labor and commercial sexual exploitation, immigrant trafficking, forced early marriage, and the chattel system.

Casa Alianza
Paseo de la reforma 111
Colonia Guerrero
Mexico D.F. 06300
Mexico
www.casa-alianza.org
Casa Alianza is dedicated to the rehabilitation and defense of street children in Latin American countries.

Counter-Trafficking Service
International Organization for Migration
17 Route des Moullons
C.P. 71 CH-1211
Geneva 19 Switzerland
Phone: 022 717 9111
https://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home.html
Dedicated to assisting trafficked migrants through protection, counseling, free legal and medical services, assisted return and re–integration.

ECPAT International
(End Child Prostitution/Pornography and Trafficking)
328 Phayathai Road
Bangkok 10400 Thailand
www.ecpat.net

Maiti Nepal
P.O.Box: 9599
Gaushala
Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: 01-4492904
www.maitinepal.org
Maiti Nepal is an organization dedicated to the prevention of trafficking Nepali girls for prostitution and other forms of forced labor, through intervention and legal advocacy.

OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]
www.osce.org/cthb
Wallnerstrasse 6
1010 Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43 1 514 36 6000
Fax: +43 1 514 36 6996
The OSCE is the world's largest regional security organization whose 56 participating States span the geographical area from Vancouver to Vladivostok.

Solwodi (Solidarity)
www.solwodi.de
German group dedicated to ending the trafficking of women, and to assisting trafficked women throughout Germany.

Stop Trafficking
U.S. Anti-Trafficking Working Group
U.S. Department of State
2001 "C" Street, N.W., Suite 6934
Washington, DC 20520-7512
Phone: (202) 647-5440
secretary.state.gov/www/picw/trafficking/home.htm
Research on human trafficking, U.S. government response, regional initiatives, articles, cases and laws, resources and reference materials.

Trafficking in Persons Awareness Programs
Resources from the U.S. Department of State

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