Ten days out from the Super Bowl, Tampa Bay law enforcement agencies are preparing to police the shadows — crime hidden from the glow of the game day lights. Their goal: preventing the expected influx of human trafficking, women and children sold for sex.
Recent human trafficking busts have targeted the buyers, the “Johns.”
But the ABC Action News I-Team found court records show few arrests on charges of human trafficking and only one conviction in Hillsborough County in the last four years.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said after the arrest, the challenges of building a human sex trafficking case grow.
The Florida Legislature defines human trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery, saying “victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation.”
“The difficulty in the convictions and in actually charging these cases, is because of the evidence required to prove someone was actually forced or trapped into this life,” Warren said.
There is also a heavy reliance on human trafficking survivors enduring what can be a grueling trial and being willing to testify against his or her trafficker.
“We have unfortunately had some cases where we did not have a victim to go forward,” Jennifer Johnson, chief of the Special Victims Unit for the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said. “To come back to court and reopen those wounds can be very traumatic.”
Johnson said there is often a strong bond between a victim and his or her trafficker.
“These traffickers know how to become very close and to make their victims rely on them,” Johnson said. “So breaking that bond can become very, very difficult.”
That reliance could be for housing, food, and/or drugs. Some victims may have children by their trafficker, making it even harder for them to break loose.
If you believe you are a victim of Human Trafficking or suspect an adult is a victim of human trafficking, please visit the National Human Trafficking Hotline, or call them at 1-888-3737-888. If you suspect a child is a victim, please call the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was an informant for law enforcement since 2012, according to a transcript of a 2014 court proceeding obtained by Reuters.
The news service reported that a prosecutor, FBI agent and Tarrio’s then-attorney all vouched for his undercover work during a hearing in 2014.
During the hearing, prosecutor Vanessa Singh Johannes said Tarrio’s work led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges, and helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring, Reuters noted.
Tarrio’s lawyer at the time, Jeffrey Feiler, reportedly said his client worked undercover in several investigations, one over the sale of anabolic steroids and another regarding “wholesale prescription narcotics” and a third regarding human smuggling.
Feiler also described Tarrio as a “prolific” cooperator, according to Reuters, saying that his work helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses.
An FBI agent at the hearing also reportedly vouched for Tarrio’s work, saying he was a “key component” in local police investigations regarding marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy.
Johannes told Reuters that Tarrio “cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.”
Tarrio denied that he worked undercover or cooperated in cases against others.
Authorities rescued a Central Valley woman who was the victim of human trafficking at a motel in Sunnyvale late Monday night and have made three arrests in connection with the case.
Officers with the city’s Department of Public Safety responded to the Motel 6 at 775 North Mathilda Avenue around 11:30 p.m. after reports of a woman who was screaming for help.
When police arrived, they found the woman, who said she was a victim of trafficking. In their investigation, police said the suspects had conspired to traffic the victim from Fresno to Sunnyvale.
Officers arrested the three suspects as they were attempting to escape. The suspects, identified as Matthew Clark, Danielle Hicks and Jaishawn Young were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on human trafficking charges.
According to jail records, Clark and Hicks are being held on $500,000 bail, while Young is being held on $250,000 bail. It was not immediately known when they would appear in court.
January has been designated as Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Anyone who suspects cases of human trafficking should contact authorities or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.
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Hidden tunnels, creepy corridors, and a lot of history. That’s what you can find if you go to Indianapolis’ City Market … well, underneath it.
Back in 1886, at the block of Market and Delaware streets, stood Tomlinson Hall and Market Hall. Tomlinson Hall was used for large public gatherings, galas and musical performances, including the National Prohibition in 1882.
You will need to watch both video’s to understand the concept. In 2019, 157 Indiana human trafficking cases were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline – a 19 percent increase from 2018. … Of the 157 cases reported in 2019 in Indiana, 40 of those involved minors, according to the report
INDIANAPOLIS – Legislation co-authored by State Rep. Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) that would speed up the rescue of missing children and trafficking victims is advancing to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for final approval. State Rep. Randy Truitt (R-West Lafayette) authored the bill, which the full Indiana Senate passed today by a vote of 49-0.
House Bill 1216 would require state police to distribute trafficking pamphlets to law enforcement agencies and any person who files a missing child report. Since Senators made no changes to the legislation, it advances directly to the governor for his consideration.
“Pamphlets will include the twenty-four hour toll-free numbers for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the National Runaway Safeline, as well as a summary of their services,” Wright said. “At the very least, the pamphlets can provide emotionally distraught parents with a sense of hope and plan of action for recovering their missing children.”
HB 1216 also defends child victims of human or sexual trafficking against prostitution charges.
The Tippecanoe County Prosecutor says victims are commonly arrested for underage prostitution, booked into jails under false identification, and bonded out by their captors. Many times victimized children are then taken out of state and virtually become ghosts.
“This legislation changes the conversation from a juvenile delinquency issue to a child protection issue,” noted Wright. “Trafficking victims are traumatized, isolated, and scared. We want victims to seek help without fearing prosecution for prostitution.
“We want the children to be recognized as victims, not criminals,” she added.
To prevent victims from vanishing with their abductors, HB 1216 authorizes the Department of Children Services to act as a stand-in legal guardian. The department would then reunite the child with their family or put them in a safe house.
More incidents of human trafficking are starting to come to light in Indiana. In 2014, the attorney general’s office reported 100 trafficking cases.
In addition to Wright, HB 1216 was so popular that it attracted a large number of supporters in both the House and Senate.
UK law enforcement reveals results of enhanced response to child sexual abuse
The National Crime Agency and police forces have arrested 320 people and safeguarded over 400 children as part of an operation targeting the UK’s most dangerous child sex offenders.
The operation formed part of an enhanced UK law enforcement response to online child sexual abuse (CSA) since the first coronavirus lockdown, which led to 4,760 arrests and 6,500 children being safeguarded between April and September.
The figures are being released today as the Home Office publishes the first ever Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.
The strategy recognises the evolving scale, severity and complexity of this threat and outlines the whole-system response required to tackle it.
Last year the NCA assessed there were at least 300,000 individuals posing a sexual threat to children in the UK, and warned of a spike in online CSA offending during the pandemic.
Rob Jones, NCA Director of Threat Leadership, said:
“The NCA welcomes this strategy at a time when the threat to children is more severe than it has ever been. It is vital that every part of the public and private sector recognises it has a part to play in tackling it.
“As part of the whole system approach, the NCA is focusing on the most dangerous offenders. Many feel they can operate with impunity online – using anonymisation techniques, secure accounts and the dark web – but as we have shown with this operation they are wrong and we have the capabilities to track them down.
“We have also provided hundreds of leads to police forces, and out of the 320 arrested, 122 were targeted by NCA officers. Seventeen were in positions of trust, including a volunteer with the Scouts, church youth group leaders, a social worker, primary school and college teachers, a hospital care assistant, a police officer, and a civil servant.
“In addition to operational activity against high harm offenders, the NCA also manages a huge number of referrals of child sexual abuse material from the tech industry. In 2020 alone, there were more than 84,000 referrals which resulted in over 16,500 actionable cases being developed and sent to police forces.
“These are not just images or videos being viewed online. What we are uncovering here is evidence of the horrific, real-world sexual abuse of children. It’s really important that connection is not lost or diluted.”
One of the 122 high-harm offenders investigated by the NCA included the deputy head of a primary school in Middlesbrough, who admitted watching videos of children being raped on the dark web. Following his arrest, indecent images and 87 category A videos of child abuse were recovered on his laptop. He told officers he had used TOR software in an attempt to make himself anonymous online. He was sentenced in September 2020.
In November last year, the NCA received a referral relating to over 1,000 indecent images, including images of babies. Intelligence work identified that a vicar was linked to the images and the case was urgently sent to the local force. The suspect was arrested and the young children he was due to adopt were safeguarded.
In another case disseminated by the agency, the investigating force arrested two men and found more than 4,000 indecent images on their devices. This included images of contact abuse they had committed at their home address. They were sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison in October, and their victims were safeguarded.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, said:
“We welcome this strategy and look forward to building on the work already being carried out by police and partner agencies on a daily basis.
“There is more we can do to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse, prevent offending and protect children. Policing has made mistakes in the past and it’s important we recognise that but we are working hard to improve.
“Our changes include reviewing past mistakes, highlighting best practice and publishing advice for forces and frontline officers leading child abuse investigations. Operation Hydrant was established in 2014 to coordinate the policing response to non-recent child abuse and learning continues from that.
“We will carry on improving our approach and working with partners in the public and charitable sectors. Our recent operation with the National Crime Agency targeting the online element of abuse shows the importance of law enforcement working together.
“The positive impact of our changing approach is evidenced in the steady increase in the number of victims and survivors confident to report child sexual abuse to the police. Our focus continues to be improving that confidence because we know the numbers reported don’t represent the true scale of the problem.
“The strategy shows police can’t tackle this alone and our work with other organisations will continue. We – as police, partners and society – have to work together to understand more, spot the signs and intervene early to prevent child sexual abuse from happening.”
This enhanced response in the face of the pandemic also involved a huge educational push to help keep children safe as they spent more time online during the initial lockdown. The NCA launched #OnlineSafetyAtHome – a host of informative, educational products aimed at children, parents and carers which is still available on the Thinkuknow website.
As we find ourselves in another lockdown with schools closed, the NCA and NPCC are once again urging children, parents and carers to ensure they know how to stay safe on the web.
NCA’s Rob Jones added:
“The internet has undeniable benefits to society and now more than ever is playing a key part of our children’s education.
“Unfortunately, it also enables criminals to commit horrific crimes against children through grooming, live-streaming and distribution of indecent images.
“The advice and activities on our Thinkuknow website are really important and easily built into home schooling programmes.
Late last night Charlie Ward, Simon Parkes, David Nino Rodriguez & Tiana Islam did a video explaining about what took place yesterday at the Inauguration, Some people have already walked out the fox hole and the war hasn’t even started yet..
realfree.news.blog 