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What happened
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/facts-and-figures-2010-2011/investigative-programs Forty pimps associated with prostitution activities in central Pennsylvania were identified during the investigation. Additionally, 152 victims of prostitution were identified, 44 of which were recruited or worked as juveniles. On December 7, 2005, 18 subjects were named in two federal indictments. To date, all subjects have been convicted. Sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years in prison have been obtained. http://www.justice.gov/usao/pam/press_releases/2009%20archive/Dillard_05_15_09.htm As the direct result of [a state trooper's] actions in warning prostitutes and pimps of undercover operations and law enforcement sweeps, [a state trooper] enabled the prostitution ring to avoid arrest and prosecution and to continue to prostitute children as young as 12 years’ old at the Gables Truck Stop. Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, Research and Analysis Sub-Committee, Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio: Operation Precious Cargo occurred in December, 2005 in Harrisburg, PA. As a result of this investigation 151 victims of prostitution were identified, at least 45 of which were prostituted as children. Seventy-eight of 151 identified victims were from Toledo, the youngest of whom was just 12 years old. Of the 18 traffickers indicted in the Precious Cargo Case, all but one was from Toledo. Sixteen of the traffickers pleaded guilty and received sentences of up to 25 years in prison. Two traffickers were found guilty at trial and received 35 and 45 years in prison. In addition to the 18 traffickers indicted in the Precious Cargo Case, at least six other Toledo based traffickers have been prosecuted for the sex trafficking of women and children by other FBI Divisions. This is the story of Julie, one of the girls who was only 12 years old at the time she was trafficked. Julie* was walking down the street when a man in a car pulled up to talk to her and convinced her to take a ride. She explains, I really didn’t want to ‘cause I was scared but you know how an older person just comes at you like that and you don’t know what to do…He just said we were going to just sit there for a minute and you know a minute turned into days. He was acting all nice and buying me whatever I wanted. At the time she was approached by a trafficker, her home life was chaotic. She lived in poverty with an alcoholic father. When he became intoxicated, yelling would quickly progress to physical assaults. She felt stuck. I did want to leave…because my dad, he’s always drinking and stuff like that and till this day now, he still does it and back then he would slap me and stuff so I didn’t want to stay, you know, but I didn’t want to leave cause that lifestyle, at first I thought it was ok but after being out there and having to do that… At the time of her recruitment Julie was barely connected to school, with special needs and not receiving sufficient grades, she continued to attend in hopes of catching up with her classmates. Over time, and with much convincing from her would be trafficker, Julie ended up hesitantly agreeing to get in the car. Over time he convinced her to be driven to Harrisburg, PA. While there she was taken to a motel to dress in sexier clothing and driven to a truck stop and was expected to sell herself. She was walked over to various trucks, forced to get in and have sex with truck drivers while her “watcher” waited. [He took me] to where all the other girls are, ‘cause he got like five other girls and we was at a motel. We stayed until it got dark like around five or six then went out there and worked. I didn’t know it was going to be a truck stop, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t think I would have to walk up and down in the cold and having nasty old truck drivers touch me and stuff. I didn’t feel right…I gave the girl the money; the girl held my money after every date I had. * Story provided by Williamson (2008) raw data. Identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the victim.
Response and intervention
http://www.justice.gov/usao/pam/press_releases/2009%20archive/Dillard_05_15_09.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of the Treasury commenced a grand jury investigation, code-named “Precious Cargo" The Operation Precious Cargo investigation has to date resulted in the conviction of fifteen pimps, two chief prostitutes and two corrupt state troopers. Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, Research and Analysis Sub-Committee, Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio: At the end of three days, and with the help of a truck driver and an adult friend, also recruited from Toledo into the sex trade, they were able to escape and call the police. With the help of the Innocence Lost Task Force, she was rescued and the traffickers were prosecuted. * Story provided by Williamson (2008) raw data. Identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the victim. Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, Research and Analysis Sub-Committee, Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio: However, rescue out of the sex trafficking is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a longer, more difficult road to recovery. After returning to school, Julie was ridiculed by her classmates for being a “prostitute”. As a result, she refused to attend school, quickly fell behind, and quit. Although child protective services were involved, the reasons for her initial runaway episodes were not resolved. She was returned home and continued to periodically runaway when the drinking and the yelling from her father reached a point of frustration. By age 14, she began to smoke crack cocaine and became a regular user. Having been trained by her trafficker, she knew how to work the streets to obtain money to support her drug habit. She was arrested from time to time, and was often depressed, feeling as though she was missing something bigger out of life. After becoming involved in some local programs in Toledo, she reluctantly began attending support groups and began to work on her GED. Her social worker visited her two or three time a week. She moved away from her parents and moved in with a relative. Over the next two years she continued to maintain sobriety for a few months and would then slip back into crack cocaine use. Today she is 18 and continues to struggle with sobriety. http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/facts-and-figures-2010-2011/investigative-programs Based on intelligence obtained during the course of a wiretap in the FBI’s Oklahoma City Division, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was identified as a lucrative destination for enterprises engaged in the interstate trafficking of victims of prostitution, to include juveniles.