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Monday was a monumental day for survivors of sex trafficking. Tennessee resident Cyntoia Brown, a child sex trafficking survivor convicted of killing the man who bought her when she was 16 from her trafficker with the intent of raping her, has been granted clemency.
After 15 years in prison, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has granted full clemency to Cyntoia Brown.
Brown, a sex trafficking victim serving a life sentence for the 2004 murder of a man who payed her to have sex as a child. Cyntoia was 16 years old when she shot and killed the 43 year old man.
NASHVILLE — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Friday that a colleague, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, will now lead congressional efforts to end modern slavery across the globe after the Chattanoogan leaves office next week.
“For years, Senator Portman has been a champion in Congress in the fight against human trafficking here at home, and I can think of no one better to take up the mantle in the global fight against this scourge on humanity as I depart the Senate,” Corker stated Friday in a news release.
Tennessee Governor Haslam was speaking at an event when Justin Lang, a higher-education professional stepped up to the mic during the audience question portion. “As a victim of sex trafficking and assault, this is an unjust sentence in the first place,” Lang said. Under Tennessee law, all minors engaged in sex work are legally considered victims of sex trafficking. “She has not been treated as a victim of trafficking and not given the justice she deserves.”
A Murfreesboro woman who was part of a human trafficking case managed to escape her captors Thanksgiving Day. The woman escaped her perpetrators by jumping out of a bathroom window in Murfreesboro and running to the Thornton’s on Old Fort Boulevard where she called her mother and then police. The 29-year old victim told police she had been sold, traded and swapped for money and drugs in the Bradyville and Readyville areas of Rutherford County, as well as Grundy County, and in Kentucky. According to a police report, the victim said she was given the drug ketamine, which induces a trance-like state, to make her sleep at night. Her captors also forced her to use cocaine during the day, she reported.
During conversations, Kaufman told the purported child he was “rich” and had multiple businesses in Memphis, including an escort service. He also said she could make an enormous amount of money modeling for him and claimed he was in the Mafia in an attempt to intimidate her into giving him money for a “modeling fee” and to not call the police.
Isiah Hayes, left, and Daireus Ice, right, were indicted Tuesday after police say they sexually assaulted a 9-month-old baby and recorded it on a cellphone in Shelby County, Tennessee, the district attorney’s office said. Shelby County District Attorney
Recovery is possible. Human trafficking destroys, while this house rescues.
Bigg Tyme” will be serving jail time in a federal prison.
A Memphis man accused of trafficking three women and a teen for sex has been convicted in federal court, according to the Department of Justice.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.