SPOTLIGHT CASE Human Trafficking Awareness Thread

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/03/flint_human_trafficking_forum.html

In the late 1970s, Joyce Haskett was sentenced to life behind bars for murder. On Wednesday, March 11, 2015, she was the guest speaker at "Human Trafficking: A Conversation and a Call to Action" at the University of Michigan - Flint. The forum was sponsored by Of Impact, a Veterans Services Organization, as well as the Genesee County Human Trafficking Task Force. Dozens of community members, students and activists attended the event, which served as a "call to action" and push for public awareness...

Sen. Judy Emmons said a lot of progress has been made at the state level in terms of human trafficking legislation but there would be more progress in the coming year. Emmons said more resources need to be allocated to fighting cyber-crime, and more needs to be done to train hospital personnel how to recognize signs of human trafficking...

Haskett shared her story of how she went from suffering sexual violence and serving 17 years in prison to eventually landing in her current position, constituent outreach coordinator for the Michigan State Senate. It started when she was 7 years old.
 
excerpts from Toronto Police news release, March 31 2015
http://www.metroprotective.ca/updat...g-investigation-three-people-face-43-charges/

Update on Arrests in Human Trafficking investigation,
Three people face 43 charges ...

On Friday, February 27, 2015, Sage Finestone, 21; Nicholas Faria, 19; and Natasha Robitaille, 18, were arrested and charged ...

All three have been charged with the following offences:

1) Trafficking in Persons
2) Trafficking in Persons under 18 years
3) Material Benefit - Trafficking
4) Material Benefit – Trafficking under 18 years
5) Material Benefit from Sexual Services
6) Material Benefit from Sexual Services under 18 years
7) Procuring or Exercising Control
8) Procuring or Exercising Control under 18 years
9) Advertising Sexual Services
10) Advertising Sexual Services

As a result of the press release for the above occurrence, another victim contacted police and spoke to members of the Sex Crimes Human Trafficking Enforcement Team ...

On Monday, March 16, 2015, all three were each charged with:

1) Trafficking in Persons under 18 years
2) Material Benefit – Trafficking
3) Material Benefit – Trafficking under 18 years
4) Exercising Control
5) Procuring – Person under 18 years (Robitaille Only)

Police believe there may be more victims.
<bbm>

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474 or
Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS


or online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637) or
Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.​
 
RCMP breaks up prostitution ring with Montreal links

Published on: April 1, 2015
Last Updated: April 1, 2015 5:27 PM EDT

Investigators with the RCMP are on the lookout for two people allegedly involved in the trafficking of young women after dismantling the Montreal cell of a Canada-wide prostitution ring along with another major cell in Toronto.

According to a release issued on Wednesday, the investigation started in January 2014 and targeted “an Asian-based international criminal organization that is allegedly involved in the smuggling of young women into Canada for sexual exploitation through various bawdy-houses.” ....

At least 500 victims have been linked to the ring. In many cases, Thibault said, their files have now been transferred to Citizenship and Immigration Canada for review and they may be sent back to their countries of origin. Some may claim refugee status, he added.
<bbm>

full article at:
http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...with-montreal-links?google_editors_picks=true
 
http://www.citynews.ca/2015/04/22/9-charged-another-sought-in-canada-wide-human-trafficking-ring/
rbbm.
"9 charged, another sought, in Canada-wide human trafficking ring
Apr 22, 2015"


"Police allege the gang members lured females &#8212; ranging in age from 15 to 33 &#8212; into prostitution for monetary gain, forcing them to service 10 to 15 clients a day and hand over all proceeds.

The victims were recruited from Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Alberta, police said. Some were lured from dance clubs, schools, group homes, as well as Instagram and Facebook.

Beaven-Desjardins said the alleged pimps would prey on the victims&#8217; vulnerability, and romance them with attention and gifts, leading them to believe they were in a &#8220;boyfriend [and] girlfriend relationship.&#8221;

&#8220;They would slowly manipulate the victims into thinking prostitution was glamourous and lucrative. Once the victim agreed to the plan, the relationship would change dramatically,&#8221; Beaven-Desjardins said.


She said photos were taken of the females in lingerie and various stages of undress, which were posted along with ads on websites listing their services.

Police said the suspects controlled the victims by isolating them.

&#8220;These pimps would take their cell phone information and identification, and would regularly transport them to various hotels and motels within Toronto, York Region, Peel Region, Hamilton, London, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, Winnipeg and Edmonton,&#8221; Beaven-Desjardins said".
 
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2014-2015/too-young-to-lose

BROADCAST DATE : Apr 10, 2015
Too Young To Lose

" A daughter, a niece, a friend &#8211; underage girls forced into the sex trade, exploited by pimps preying on their vulnerability. Who are these teens?

Mark Kelley of CBC's the fifth estate sat down with four young women from Edmonton to find out how they were singled out, recruited and groomed for the sex trade.

One girl grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood and was in most respects the "girl next door." A sexual assault when she was just 13 led her on a downward spiral, and to a side of the city she never knew existed.

She explained how pimps look for "broken girls" and then lure them into a life of sexual exploitation through drugs, clothes, affection and attention.

"The pimps, they look like regular guys," she told Kelley. "Basically, they can spot you out of a crowd and they know that you're a victim".
 
Far too many cases of HT to list here, luckily many have been thwarted by LE- just one of many recent cases.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/09/15/ottawa-man-faces-76-charges-in-sex-human-trafficking-probe
rbbm.

Sept 15/15
"In a room with a No. 2 on the wall is a bed, an extra large box of Durex condoms and multiple packages of baby wipes.

The small house on Merivale Rd. has four window air conditioners &#8211; one for each room &#8211; and an old boxspring lying out near the curb.

As police announced dozens of charges in a human-trafficking case Tuesday, they would not officially confirm this house was one of three addresses they had raided a day earlier, but they did acknowledge they had descended on a home on this block.

The charges were the culmination of a four-month-long police investigation revolving around what authorities allege were illicit massage parlours and an organized human-trafficking operation.

In total, 17 women were identified in the organized prostitution operation, police said. The women were new to Canada, according to authorities. Four of the victims were located during the search warrants issued Monday."
 
Another big bust!
rbbm.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/human-trafficking-canada-1.3283514

"Dozens of people have been charged with 137 offences related to human trafficking as part of a Canada-wide crackdown on the illegal sex trade.

Representatives from some of the 40 different police services involved — including the OPP and RCMP — announced the arrests at a news conference in Vaughan, Ont., Thursday morning.

In addition to the 47 arrests made in Operation Northern Spotlight, police were able to ensure the safety of 20 people who had been working in the sex trade as minors or against their will.

"Most of the victims were under 19 years of age; some were as young as 14."
 
Another big bust!
rbbm.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/human-trafficking-canada-1.3283514

"Dozens of people have been charged with 137 offences related to human trafficking as part of a Canada-wide crackdown on the illegal sex trade.

Representatives from some of the 40 different police services involved — including the OPP and RCMP — announced the arrests at a news conference in Vaughan, Ont., Thursday morning.

In addition to the 47 arrests made in Operation Northern Spotlight, police were able to ensure the safety of 20 people who had been working in the sex trade as minors or against their will.

"Most of the victims were under 19 years of age; some were as young as 14."

Way to go Canada LE! The ages, most under 19 and as young as 14. Horrible!
 
As per above post, the 13 year old girl was initially lured by a 17 yr old girl on fb. then allegedly given to the men, Kahmal Howard Paris, 22, and Alico Allen, 19.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...rest-1.3327507
rbbm.
"Police said it was during that meeting at Paris's Toronto home that the victim was told she would be taken to Niagara Falls to perform sexual services for clients.
The victim said she did not want to do that, but police allege Paris told her she didn't have a choice and threatened violence if she didn't comply. Police say she was also introduced to the third accused, 19-year-old Alico Allen.

The three accused then allegedly took the victim to Niagara Falls, where they rented hotel rooms in order to service clients.

There, Beaven-Desjardins said, Paris and the female accused took pictures of the 13-year-old victim in various states of undress and posted them in escort ads on backpages.com offering sexual services."

snip>

"Beaven-Desjardins says these types of cases are fuelled by the demand for underage sex. She had a message for clients on Friday: that police are coming after them, as well.

"It's obvious when you see this victim that she's 13 years of age," said Beaven-Desjardins. "I'm always surprised that a male wants to have sex with a child. It's very disturbing."&#8203;

Police also warned that there may be more victims."
 
Video, pics, stories about the girls who are victimized and the pimps who turn them into victims.

http://projects.thestar.com/human-sex-trafficking-ontario-canada/

BRANDED.

"The Game: Living Hell in hotel chains

The cops, pimps and victims all call it "The Game." It's no game. Young Canadian girls are being beaten, branded, bought and sold in hotels and motels, and along highways across the GTA and Ontario.

The victims are as young as 12, tricked into the sex trade by “Romeo” pimps who sell a dream of money, love and security.

Every day, an increasing number of teenagers and young women are being trafficked across Ontario and forced to work as prostitutes in what has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the province, a Star investigation found. Seasoned detectives and social workers estimate the number of girls being trafficked in Ontario today to be in the thousands.

On the streets, it’s known as “The Game.”

Some of the girls are beaten by pimps — whipped with coat hangers heated up on a stove, punched, choked, burnt and forced to sleep naked at the foot of the bed, like dogs.

Some are branded — often with their pimp’s street name. Earlier this year, a 21-year-old woman was held down in Toronto as a pimp carved his initials into her hand with a razor and then poured pen ink into the wound.

They are bought and sold — in 2013, police rescued a 17-year-old girl who was traded to a pimp by her own mother for a drug debt.

They are locked in hotel rooms and forced to have sex for money, sometimes up to 15 times a day, and then hand over all their cash to a pimp they are brainwashed into believing is their boyfriend.

Sexual human trafficking is the forced confinement or transportation of a person for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Contrary to popular belief, almost all of the victims in Canada are Canadian born."
 
I just happened to come across this from the the FBI dated 12/11/2015:

This last bit about the men they’ve arrested is chilling. It’s relief to know they’ve been locked up. But I wonder for how long they’ll really stay in:

The four individuals—two from Arizona, one from Montana, and one from California—were in their 50s and 60s. One was an engineer with a Top Secret government clearance. Another was a financial analyst. The Montana man was going to pay $10,000 for two women. When he flew to Phoenix in May 2014 to make the purchase, he was carrying u-bolts to bind the women’s wrists and gags to keep them quiet. He planned to transport them back to Montana in a recreational vehicle. The man told the undercover operative he had a fully functional dungeon in the basement of his home.

“When we eventually conducted searches,” Blay said, “all the subjects had basically manufactured rooms in their homes to be prison cells. There were bars on windows, obscured glass, and insulation so no one could see or hear the women from the outside. One guy bolted chains in the floorboards of a room.”


https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/december/human-trafficking
 
http://kdvr.com/2016/01/06/7-indicted-by-colorado-grand-jury-in-child-sex-trafficking-ring-bust/

Seven indicted by Colorado grand jury in child sex trafficking ring bust

"DENVER &#8212; A Colorado grand jury has indicted seven people who are accused of running a child sex trafficking ring in the Denver metro area, according to records unsealed last week.

According to the indictment, the group is accused of recruiting three juvenile girls and at least one woman, and forcing them into prostitution, renting them for sex acts out of Denver-area hotel rooms."
 
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Kansas-man-sentenced-for-trafficking-girl-15-319503361.html

Kansas man sentenced for trafficking girl, 15

"OPEKA, Kan. (AP) &#8212; A 25-year-old Topeka man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl.

The federal prosecutor's office in Wichita said Wednesday that Dominique Emanuel Tyson pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking a child and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Tyson admitted in the plea that he took the 15-year-old girl to a motel to meet a man who saw her photo in an online classified advertising website. The customer was actually working undercover for the Topeka Police Department and FBI."
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...874a18d_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines

Washington D.C.&#8217;s serious sex-trafficking problem

"A young woman who was made to work against her will and was convicted of prostitution is shown in the District.

Human trafficking is a cruel and inhumane practice found in countries around the world. So it should come as no surprise that President Obama proclaimed this month National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

The exploitation and coercion of girls and young women into prostitution, however, is not limited to places overseas.

Right here in the nation&#8217;s capital, our most vulnerable residents &#8212; children &#8212; are subjected to sex slavery. Their stories don&#8217;t make the evening news or even warrant blurbs in your morning paper. But human trafficking is, and has been, a shadowy and seamy part of D.C. life..."
 
Ringleader in Texas' biggest sex-trafficking ring sentenced to life in prison
By Jace Larson - Investigative Reporter


HOUSTON - A federal judge sentenced the woman described as the mastermind behind the biggest sex-trafficking ring ever busted in Texas to life in prison Wednesday.

Hortensia Meddles-Arguello, known as Tencha, was sentenced for her role in the sex-trafficking operation that continued for more than 10 years at various locations, including a bar called Las Palmas on Telephone Road.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/r...-trafficking-ring-sentenced-to-life-in-prison
 
Guilty plea for accused human trafficker ...

Justice Earl Wilson said Amanda Katherine McGee was lucky she pleaded guilty instead of going to trial, because she would have faced a life sentence if convicted.

&#8220;If this had gone to trial and you would have been convicted by me I&#8217;d have given you life in prison, because you&#8217;re that dangerous of a human being,&#8221; Wilson said, in giving McGee a tongue lashing in court.

&#8220;This is unspeakable, horrific, it&#8217;s evil,&#8221; the Court of Queen&#8217;s Bench judge said.

from:
http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/guilty-plea-for-accused-human-trafficker
 

Horrible case, glad that the judge did not hold back!

&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve even got a soul, the criminality here is beyond the pale,&#8221; Wilson said.

&#8220;How could you do this to other human beings? It&#8217;s utterly incomprehensible,&#8221; he said.

&#8220;It is utterly disgusting, depraved, what you did.&#8221;

The former Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer said he hasn&#8217;t seen such a case in his 35-year career.

&#8220;I can&#8217;t recall anything even remotely like this,&#8221; Wilson said.

&#8220;This is that bizarre of a case, it is so stunningly horrible,&#8221; he said.

&#8220;The almost indecent enthusiasm which you took on your role &#8230; is absolutely unspeakable.&#8221;
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
63
Guests online
2,449
Total visitors
2,512

Forum statistics

Threads
590,011
Messages
17,928,922
Members
228,037
Latest member
shmoozie
Back
Top