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Celia Williamson and Theresa Flores On Air 2/12/2010

Dr. Celia Williamson, founder of Second Chance in Toledo and our own Theresa Flores are being interviewed by Marine Olivesi on The Takeaway.

For most Americans, human trafficking is a horrific practice that nearly always seems to happen overseas and far away. However, a recent report by the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission says about 1,000 American-born children are forced into the sex trade every year in Ohio alone.

We speak to Celia Williamson, an associate professor at the University of Toledo who led the research. We also hear from Theresa Flores, a victim of human trafficking and author of “The Slave Across the Street: The True Story of How an All-American Teenager Survived the World of Human Trafficking.”
Listen to the radio show here

The Takeaway is a national morning news program that invites listeners to be part of the American conversation. Hosts John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee, along with partners The New York Times, BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston, deliver news and analysis and help you prepare for the day ahead.

Sex traffickers ensnared more than 1,000 youths in Ohio last year

New report documents extent of scourge in state

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:00 PM
By Alan Johnson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
View Article Here

More than 1,000 youngsters under the age of 18 were sex-trafficking victims in Ohio during the past year, according to the first-ever statewide report on the subject by the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission.

A preliminary report released this afternoon by Attorney General Richard Cordray concluded that another 2,879 youth were at risk of being trafficked.

An additional 783 foreign-born persons were trafficked for sex or forced labor in Ohio in the past year, with another 3,437 at risk, the report said.

At the same time, the research subcommittee that prepared the report acknowledged that human trafficking is a largely invisible crime, making it “virtually impossible to determine the exact number of victims in Ohio at any given time and with any degree of certainty.”

Cordray appointed the high-powered statewide panel based on the recommendation of the state’s human-trafficking law, which took effect last year. The commission includes representatives from the FBI, state and local law enforcement, five state agencies, two state lawmakers, a Cleveland juvenile court judge and trafficking survivors from Columbus and Toledo.

A Dispatch examination of sex trafficking published last year prior to the commission’s creation confirmed that the practice is a growing, vastly underreported problem that affects inner cities and affluent suburbs.

In compiling the report, the committee reviewed law enforcement records, reports from victim advocacy groups, other studies and stories from eight major Ohio newspapers, including The Dispatch.

Human trafficking, now the second-largest crime in the world behind illegal drug sales, affects at least 18,000 women and girls in U.S. each year, according to national studies. Another 300,000, many of them girls as young as 11, are considered vulnerable.

The Ohio report pinpointed the Toledo area as the fourth-highest metropolitan area — and top urban area per capita — for human trafficking cases. Only Miami, Portland, Ore., and Las Vegas had more.

Among the subcommittee’s preliminary findings: Ohio’s human-trafficking law is “weak.” It is not a stand-alone law, merely adding human trafficking on top of other charges.

The committee also found that Ohio’s first-responders remain “unaware and unprepared” to deal with trafficking cases, and customers who purchase youth for sex “remain protected, receiving minimal charges and are rarely prosecuted.”

The committee called for establishment of more “safe houses” for trafficked youngsters.

The commission’s final report and recommendations will be sent to the General Assembly and governor later this year.

HAWAII MAN CHARGED WITH SEX-TRAFFICKING OF A MINOR OVER SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that Fred Quinton Collins, of Hawaii, was charged in a criminal complaint with transporting and causing a minor to engage in commercial sex acts, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(a). If convicted, Collins faces a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment and a maximum sentence life imprisonment.
Collins made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley, and was detained pending a pre-trial detention hearing. The pre-trial detention hearing has been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 11, 2010.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on February 7, 2010, state, local and federal law enforcement officers with the South Florida Minor Vice Task Force responded to information regarding suspected prostitution activity at a hotel located in Miami Beach, FL. At the hotel, law enforcement encountered defendant Collins and three females, including the minor victim. Subsequent investigation revealed that Collins brought the victim with him from Hawaii to Miami, for the victim to engage in prostitution in South Florida over Super Bowl weekend. Collins allegedly booked the victim’s travel under a false name, paid for the victim’s airfare and hotel lodging, and supervised and directed the victim’s prostitution activities.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the South Florida Minor Vice Task Force, comprised of officers and agents from the City of Miami Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, City of Miami Beach Police Department, Broward Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. McLaughlin.
A complaint is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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