Image via WikipediaNovember 30th, 2010 | Author: Gillian Moore A press conference is scheduled for December 1, at 2:30 p.m. in the Compstat Center (Tulsa Police Headquarters) 600 Civic Center, Tulsa, OK, to talk about how police are combining forces and working with the organization Stop Child Trafficking Now (SCTNow.org) to combat human trafficking. Speakers include: Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett, Tulsa Chief of Police Chuck Jordan, Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz and Clark Stuart (Operative Director for Stop Child Trafficking Now).
“Getting these girls out of a life of sex slavery is great, but the trafficker simply replaces them with another girl. The only way to stop this modern-day slavery is to go after the traffickers themselves. That’s why SCTNow is different,” says SCTNow founder, Lynette Lewis.
The American public is learning that the $39 billion a year child sex trafficking industry is not just a global problem-it’s also a huge domestic problem. In the U.S., 200,000 minors are in the sex trade and approximately 17,000 are trafficked into the country every year according to the U.S. State Dept.
There are over 260 organizations who rehabilitate and counsel those rescued out of being trafficked-many do not survive. Stop Child Trafficking Now! (SCTNow) is one of the only organizations that go after the demand side-the predators who are trafficking these girls.Investigators and researchers estimate the average predator in the U.S. can make more than $200,000 a year from trafficking one young girl according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Special Operative Teams gather information about child predators both in the US and abroad. These teams represent the best military, federal and state intelligence and investigative organizations. They track predators to build packages against them that result in convictions.These teams possess skills beyond the average military or law enforcement individual-skills that enable them to achieve their goals in foreign lands independently, without support of US law enforcement resources. As a private organization the Special Operatives are not bound by the same restrictions that keep U.S. law enforcement from conducting research against sexual offenders.
“The Operatives provide high-level information and evidence to appropriate authorities that are needed to build packages against U.S. child sex offenders. They understand the risks associated with missions of this difficulty. The teams, selected and deployed for these missions, are made up of elite operatives. They don’t seek public recognition or fame for their efforts. Their reward is the personal satisfaction that comes from knowing their efforts will take predators off the streets and put them behind bars, resulting in the rescue of innocent children.” Says Clark Stuart, President of the Operatives.
SCTNow had a team of operatives on the ground in Tulsa in September to gather intel and begin phase one of operations. December will be phase two of operations and will bring SCTNow one step closer to serving up to local law-enforcement what IT hopes to be a “slam-dunk” for prosecutors against predators who traffick children through and in Oklahoma.
Source: iNews ConnectHuman Trafficking and Sex Slavery: War Declared by Tulsa | iNews Connect
