Child Trafficking in Sex in the U.S.: A Rape of Innocence

When we think of human trafficking, we often associate it with other countries, certainly not here in America. Last night, on Primetime Live, this ugly phenomenon was exposed to millions of viewers. Who is targeted and why will surpprise you.

Many of the victims come from middle class homes. They are targeted because of their youth and naivete. According to F.B.I. estimates, over 100,000 children are victims of human trafficking in sex. They have a project specifically for apprehending the predators who are using our young girls as sex slaves- Project Lost Innocence. These young victims range in age from 9 years old to 19, the average being between 9 years old and 11.

“The FBI and its partners cannot restore the innocence lost from those children who are lured into childhood prostitution,” said Chris Swecker, assistant director for the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division. “These children are victimized twice: first by the handler who exploits them and secondly by the individual who solicits them.”

They are selected as skillfully as any predator chooses its prey, using online chats, direct physical surveillance, and information coerced from other victims. The initial meeting may appear innocuous, prefaced with a friendly compliment, leading to an offer of "employment", usually modelling. Or it may be, as it was in one of the cases on the program, a snatch right in front of the victims home, with help just yards away.

Once "captured", these young and innocent girls are subjected to imprisonment, starvation, gang rape, and offered for sale, often to as many as 50 john's per day. They are kept compliant through drugs, torture and coercion, in the form of threats towards the family of the victim. There is nothing on this earth more potent than threatening the lives of loved one's, for failure to comply.