The secret world of human trafficking in the Bluegrass

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Source: wymt tv

Mon 11:51 PM, Feb 27, 2012

Reporter: Melissa Etezadi melissa.etezadi@wkyt.com

According to UNICEF, an estimated one million children are forced to work in the global sex industry every year. A booming market that generates more than $39 billion in profit annually, and is described as the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.

"The national average of a girl being trafficked in the U.S. is between 12-14 years old" explains Sandra Savage, a survivor of the sex industry. "I worked in the industry for 13 years, and in those years I saw things that I can't even describe." Savage, a native of Mount Sterling, who says she worked in the U.S. and internationally. "I never worked directly with anyone underage but the truth is, most of the people in this industry are. A lot of people want to think this kind of stuff only happens overseas but it's happening right here in Lexington."

Just last year, Berea Police arrested Anthony Wayne Hart and his wife Kathy for trafficking their two teenage daughters. They say the two attempted to sell the girls inside a Richmond movie theater, as well as at grocery stores and restaurants throughout Rockcastle County, Somerset, Danville and Fayette County.

According the DNA foundation, this underground industry is more profitable than drug trafficking and weapons.

"There is a demand in our communities for women and children's bodies for sex," explains Marissa Castellanos, Human Trafficking Program Manager for Kentucky Rescue and Restore. "It is the drive that funds this industry and makes it a growing problem. People think that sex trafficking looks like one thing, however the truth is it looks like a lot of different things." Castellanos explains that throughout the years, "human sex trafficking has evolved from people walking the streets to people posting ads on the web. Now a days, transactions can be made behind computer screens where no one can see you which makes it easier for predators."

According to Castellanos, many traffickers make fake ads on the internet for their victims as a way to sell them. She explains that many times, "they write the ads in such a way that it sounds appealing to the buyer. However, it's actually not written by the girl, it's written by the trafficker or the pimp who is selling her. For the traffickers and buyers this hasn't been a risky business for them. It's been very high profit and very low risk."

That is why Castellanos, Savage and others are presenting House Bill 350 before the state. The measure would strengthen punishment for human trafficking and help victims with recovery. It would also create a new Kentucky State Police unit to investigate human trafficking rings and promote better training for law enforcement and victims' advocates.

"From the initial onset of someone being trafficked their life expectancy is seven years. So, if you're 13-years-old when you get in, you're dead by 20," explains Savage.

According to Castellanos, there have been 67 cases of human trafficking and 12 indictments in Kentucky since 2007. There have yet to be any convictions on charges related to human trafficking. Just another reason why Castellanos says law enforcement needs more education, resources and tools to address human trafficking in our state.

Gang leader convicted of prosecuting 12-year-old girl - The Washington Post

By Victor Zapana, Published: July 28

A member of the violent Mara Salvatrucha street gang was convicted in federal court Thursday of prostituting a 12-year-old girl who was a runaway, authorities said.

Jose C. Juarez-Santamaria, 24, met the girl at a Halloween party in Oxon Hill in 2009, according to court papers. The girl asked for his help finding a place to stay, but he began prostituting her the next day.

 “From the moment he laid eyes on the victim, Juarez-Santamaria did not see a young 12-year-old runaway in need of help,” Neil MacBride, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. “He saw a money-making opportunity.”

Gang members gave her clothes, makeup and condoms, according to court papers. Prosecutors said Juarez-Santamaria, known as Sniper, and others gave her alcohol and marijuana.

During a trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria that was presided over by Judge Liam O’Grady, the girl testified that Juarez-Santamaria and other gang members called potential customers, authorities said. She said she was taken to have sex with them at businesses, homes and hotels in the Northern Virginia area, sometimes every day during a week.

Juarez-Santamaria generally charged people $40 for fifteen minutes of sex with the girl, authorities said, but gang members had sex with her for no charge. Sometimes customers lined up for her.

Juarez-Santamaria, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was the leader of a Mara Salvatrucha clique, officials said. The gang, also known as MS-13, originated in Los Angeles and is known for being violent.

David T. Williams, defense attorney for Juarez-Santamaria, said in an e-mail Thursday that his client is “considering his options” but declined to comment further.

Juarez-Santamaria was convicted of conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation of a minor for prostitution, officials said. He is to be sentenced Oct. 28 and faces 15 years to life in prison.

Early this month, another MS-13 member, Alexander Rivas, 19, of Alexandria, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trafficking two juvenile females for sex, prosecutors said. They said Rivas found the girls customers throughout Northern Virginia.

Source: The Washington Post

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BBC News - Devon and Cornwall Police warning to sex traffickers

Page last updated at 14:37 GMT, Friday, 12 February 2010

Devon and Cornwall police have warned they will pursue anyone involved in sex trafficking after a woman linked to the trade was jailed for money laundering.

Oranong Biscoe, from Waverley Road, Harrow, Middlesex, was found guilty of two counts of money laundering and one of running an unlicensed bank.

Plymouth Crown Court heard that Biscoe had sent £1.3m, much of it from prostitution in the UK, to Thailand.

She made thousands of pounds charging commission on illegal transfers.

Without people like Oranong Biscoe, traffickers, pimps and others involved in the sex trade, would find it considerably more difficult Det Insp Ian Tomlinson

A nationwide police investigation started in 2007 after a Plymouth prostitute was rescued by a client who took pity on her.

Police found bank receipts paid into Biscoe's accounts when they raided a brothel in Aberdeen, the court was told.

Biscoe, who was a credit controller for Thai Airways in London, was making a 2% commission on the illegal transfers and was also taking a profit from the currency conversions.

She banked £18,000 from one brothel keeper on one day alone and used a network of couriers to take cash out of Britain to Bangkok on Thai Airways flights.

Det Insp Ian Tomlinson, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said after the case on Thursday: "Oranong Biscoe seemed, on the face of things, to be a respectable member of the community.

'Pursued with vigour'

"The jury found her guilty of laundering the proceeds of organised prostitution which included the monies made by persons found guilty of trafficking the woman rescued in Plymouth.

"Money laundering is a serious crime and it could be viewed that, without people like Oranong Biscoe, traffickers, pimps and others involved in the sex trade, would find it considerably more difficult to operate.

"The residents of the region can be assured that matters of this nature will be pursued with vigour by the constabulary."

Det Insp Tomlinson praised the work of financial investigator Jay Driscoll and DC Rob Clement and thanked Thai Airways for their co-operation.

BBC News - Devon and Cornwall Police warning to sex traffickers

51% founders: Bringing to light the reality of human trafficking

By Tryce Czyczynska and Lisa N. Sanders, Guest Contributor
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 no comments | be the first to comment!

Like the threat of AIDS in the 80s, nuclear war in the 90s and terrorism in the early 21st century, it’s clouded with misunderstanding and fueled by economics. Like all threats against humanity, it continues to grow on a global basis. For those who are aware of it, they fear it. For those who dare to study it, they’re overwhelmed by it. For those who are ignorant, they risk becoming its victim.

San Diego: sdnn-opinion392It is human trafficking, a gentler term for modern day slavery. For those in the industries attempting to curtail it, it is accepted that more people today are in involuntary servitude than at any other time in history, some say as many as 27 million.

Its rise mirrors the rise of poverty and desperation seen throughout the world. We can be certain traffickers will prey upon the remaining, impoverished victims of Haiti as they struggle to make sense of the devastating earthquake that just struck there.

Although its label is at times misleading, human trafficking commonly involves the transport of people away from their familiar communities to where they have no resources for escape. It is in these foreign communities that these trafficked victims live short lives of extreme work for no pay. However, the term “trafficking” does not require that the victim be physically moved, but that the victim is exploited for unpaid work or commercial sex. You might think of it less as a victim being trafficked ‘out’ as much as paying customers are the traffic moving ‘in’ on an innocent victim, such as a child prostitute.

A common role for forced servitude is sex slavery and involuntary prostitution, 70 percent of female victims are trafficked into the commercial sex industry. The most common trafficked victim is either a young female or a child. The average child who is trafficked lives two years once their enslavement begins. The average trafficked sex slave who is brought into the U.S. lives four years once their forced work begins.
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The illegal trade of humans and the illegal drug trade are the second most lucrative criminal industries in the world. The most lucrative criminal industry is the illegal arms trade. Unlike drugs, which can only be used once, humans can be used over and over until entirely used up. Unlike drugs that must be grown, harvested and processed, humans can be snatched up off the street.

Modern slave owners aren’t concerned with owning and keeping slaves for a long duration, but are willing to use them up for short-term cash. The forced servitude of people is considered a profitable industry that is relatively easy to enact. Replacing a victim is considered easier than the risk of letting a victim live. The longer a captive slave lives, the more likely they are to escape and expose their captors.

Furthermore, being caught with drugs is an automatic offense in most countries; being caught with a human has to be investigated to label it a crime. It’s no wonder it’s the fastest growing illegal trade on the planet at this time.

Like the worst dangers of the last few decades, AIDS, nuclear war and terrorism, human trafficking is a hard topic to digest. Its scope is enormous and its reach overlaps these other issues. The victims of forced prostitution, and their paying customers and pimps, help spread AIDS. Modern slaves are controlled by force, fear and by keeping them drugged. The sale of drugs, humans and the profits from their forced prostitution can be stockpiled, laundered and used to purchase illegal weapons. The routes and point of entries used by human traffickers and smugglers are testing ground for terrorists to cross our borders undetected.

All of our worst fears have grown, snowballed and become intertwined. Combating one part of the related jumble can assist progress in them all.

Monday was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. President Obama has proclaimed the entire month of January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. In honor of its month-long national spotlight, our next few blog entries will highlight different aspects of human trafficking and examine our local role as a major city that shares an international border.

Tryce Czyczynska & Lisa N. Sanders are the founders of 51%

Tags: AIDS, Drug Trade, Haiti, human trafficking, modern day slavery, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, SDNN, Sex Traffickers

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51% founders: Bringing to light the reality of human trafficking

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