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Fifty-seven people were arrested after being accused of operating a sex trafficking operation, according to San Joaquin County Sheriff’s officials.
Sheriff’s officials said 17 law enforcement agencies, which was spearheaded by Lathrop Police Services, worked on the sting operation from April 12 to 16. They say they arrested would-be predators who thought they were meeting up with a 13-year-old child. Among those who were arrested in the alleged trafficking operation, charges include being child sex predators, being out-of-compliance sex offenders, human trafficking, pimping or pandering, prostitution, solicitation, possession of a firearm, and traffic citations. Law enforcement also cited 37 people.
A woman has been charged with trafficking multiple victims for sex through Crystal’s Day Spa in Revere, an alleged front for human trafficking, the attorney general said.
Geralda De Matos Garland, 57, of Revere, was arrested on Friday and charged with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution, money laundering and conspiracy, the Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday.
Human trafficking can be an invisible crime, but it’s happening right here in North Carolina. Stopping it will require a joint effort between individuals and organizations throughout the community. It’s often the people who don’t think they’re in a position to help who can make the greatest difference. Collaboration between individuals and community organizations is essential to increasing awareness, spotting trafficking, and improving services for victims.
Predators from North and South Carolina traveled to York County looking for sex with children as young as 10, deputies said Monday. Deputies said 10 people were arrested in “Operation Home Alone,” which was underway from March 10-14. The operation took place at several different spots, including an abandoned home in Fort Mill, South Carolina, deputies said.
“Seven of the 10 arrestees, dubbed as travelers, actually came to the residence or attempted to come to the residence of the operation,” deputies said. “The ages of the children they thought they were coming to have sex with were 10 to 17 years old.”
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson described the web as having “holes” and “crannies” that can be used for people to prey on children.
Chris Bates was 16 years old when he started selling nude photos of himself on the internet to adult men who pressured him for more and more images.
The demands snowballed into riskier requests, and within months the gay Connecticut teen was trading sex for dinners out, designer sneakers and other luxuries.
Bates says he was lured by the attention and what appeared to be easy money. He secretly hoped his financially struggling single mother, or anybody, would notice what was happening and protect him.
No one did — and within two years, the tall, lanky youth was living alone in a dilapidated apartment, prostituting himself to get by. His home — and an array of hotel rooms in Connecticut and Massachusetts — became a “revolving door” of sex buyers.
“I really thought I was the bad person selling myself,’’ said Bates, now 26 and living in Worcester. “I didn’t realize that I was a victim.”
Human trafficking has become a major problem around the world, but students at one Georgia middle school are developing a plan to help combat the issue.
Tucker Middle School was named a semifinalist in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, which encourages students to solve real-world issues using STEM. The idea is that the device can be installed like a fire alarm in airplane bathrooms that triggers a silent alarm to alert flight attendants, pilots, and the authorities.
The device will also release an adhesive for the victim to wear so that they can be tracked after getting off the plane.
HOUSTON – A 26-year-old Houston man has been ordered to prison following his convictions of sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to do so, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Trevien Thomas aka Triggah pleaded guilty Jan. 6.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas handed Thomas a 300-month sentence. At the hearing, the court heard a statement from the victim’s mother and sister as well as letters from the victim and others detailing the emotional, physical and financial impact of what Thomas did.
On Thursday, Fayetteville police arrested nine people at the hotel. They charged eight of them with prostitution and one person with pimping.
“The hotels were very cooperative with providing us assistance,” Myers explained. Officers selected the hotels at random.
Elsewhere in the county, Peachtree City police conducted a sting of their own. Officers arrested 12 people at a hotel, charging nine of them with prostitution and three people with pimping.
In February 2020, Vestavia Hills police were able to rescue four children from trafficking and arrest the man suspected of trafficking them.
Capt. Johnny Evans with the Vestavia Hills Police Department said without the training they received as part of being named a “Human TraffickingFree Zone” in November 2019, they might not have been able to spot what was happening.
As the city continues to train its employees on how to spot and prevent human trafficking, the Police Department is seeing success in cracking down on these cases.
“Our officers now, when they’re dealing with people, know to look for certain things,” Evans said. “We’ve really been able to notice more of the signs.”
Becoming a “Human TraffickingFree Zone” is part of the Child Trafficking Solutions Project, formed in response to the passage of the state’s Safe Harbor Act, created by former state Rep. Jack Williams from Vestavia Hills.
A federal grand jury has indicted a Hollywood man and a Miami Gardens woman for the alleged sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl.
Frantz Mersier, 30, and Paula Barboza, 25, are accused of offering a place to stay to the teenager who was a runaway from a group home, prosecutors said. According to court documents, Mersier took in the girl Dec. 6 and said she could sleep on the couch. He eventually had sex with the teen and set her up for prostitution in the three days that followed.
Barboza took naked photographs of the girl and posted them on websites known to advertise for prostitution. Then, Mersier and Barboza sold the teen for sex to four different men in Broward for $100 each. On Dec. 9, the girl called a relative and law enforcement came to get her later that day.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.
