Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
we already talked about solutions and that was more
of what I wanted to tackle
in this segment of the conversation
and we're going to hear first from Greg Christopher he's an FBI agent he's with
the FBI central for human trafficking Task Force
that began in 2009 it recovers about 30 children a year
from the sex trade the recovery in a victim is just the start
case thats when the whole investigation will start at that point you
know
you have a criminal investigation to try and identify the individual responsible
and then to investigate the individual responsible that investigation could
take six months a year
sometimes a year and a half and during that time
you're trying to stabilize the victim you know we have to
we talk about that we have two problems to what we one's going to fail without the
other
recovering and stabilizing a victim stabilizing a victim
and then prosecuting individuals responsible if you fail at one
if you fall to stabilize a victim you're going to fail at prosecuting a case
and I think he raises a really important point and I know Jeanne and and Frank both you
have probably had this experience with
trying to keep someone
engaged in wanting to help prosecute
when they've been so emotionally traumatized do you sometimes lose
victims in the process of trying to move cases forward
absolutely and in fact in the state of Florida we do attempt to
prosecute a
without the victim it's called victimless prosecution
and what we try to do is develop other substantial
circumstantial evidence or direct evidence to support the claim so that if
the victim
does not appear or the victim refuses to testify we can still go
forward its very similar to how we prosecute a case
of homicide the victim in a homicide case and I know that Zack is giving me the nod here
victims in a homicide case cannot testify
to how he or she was killed we have to build the case
based on other evidence and other
information that we gather it we've done that also
in cases where victims cannot go forward and they actually
are survivors but they cannot go forward its a very very difficult time for survivors
because it requires
there to go back in time prosecution
is holding people accountable
for what they've done in the past and we do use
the technique of explaining to the victim that you're helping people
in the future when you relive the past but for some people
that is so traumatizing and so difficult that they just cannot go forward
I don't know what your point of view that is dealing with them on
as an investigator but i I suspect you have the same
contact with them absolutely
you know we we talked about earlier in that segment is getting people
in in a position to accept help which can sometimes be extremely
incredibly difficult how do we get people to accept the help that we can
give them
how do we put them in a good position to do that stuff
in it comes down to you there there are times that it
just like the young lady that's featured an article it comes down to a team of
people
prosecutors law enforcement officer victim advocates they have to sit down
around the table and make tough decisions
in some of them aren't great and people always agree with the decisions we make
in
and this has happened to us before too you there are times that it it's not
going to be a simple
easy answer it's gonna be messy it's going to be dirty is gonna be the best
solution we have it
I think it's very important for everyone in this room know that
the the department children families hotline
which we have always thought up as being the hotline for child abuse cases
takes call to investigate
Child Exploitation cases it specifically delineated in the statute
so if something
looks wrong if a child
that you have some kind of relationship with share something with you that
gives you great concern instead of
looking at it and saying this can't be happening in our community or this keep
happening
to my niece or this can't be happening this child that's
at schools PKM steady
taking that position call the hotline
let the hotline decide whether or not it's a viable
claim let the hotline those who are experienced
and skilled interviewing and investigating
have the hotline folks make that decision
because just as all of these a speakers have said
this is a very prevalent problem it's such a taboo
children are molested in their homes daily
but the community doesn't want to believe that because we want to believe
that the family unit
is the safest place in our community
so it's a contradiction so it's a taboo to share
that maybe you were victimized so if you
get this information from wherever you get it from
and you believe that there's any else credibility to it
report it once we start
reporting once we start reporting
we're going to start seeing communities
understated and comprehend the victimization
and you're gonna see ideologies change in the judiciary and ideologies
change in law enforcement because by the way
I'm on the distribution list for the National Human Trafficking hotline for
my county
it's gone up 300 percent in a month because we got three
so we're doing something right because people are picking up the phone
so you mean those things are are very important because it that's what's gonna
go to you
to our elected officials looking and saying that
we can document all this stuff its happening it's changing
yes we're gonna have to dedicate people to it yes we're gonna have to dedicate
assets to it
and and in those things so pick up the phone and
answering it when you it there's always a collision between mechanics and
theory
arm and having been up a sworn law enforcement officer on the phone with
that with the DCI hotline
I reporting a child who who is probably a victim of domestic minor sex
trafficking
and been told we don't handle that will document this but we're not going to
initiate a report
I get a call eight hours later from the supervisor arm
that's sending an investigator out we've reviewed this and we're sorry
were on it we got it you know so now you know I have somebody that trained I
know human trafficking
some I know about and and we get people on the other end of the phone that don't want to listen
well that's not my job or yes it is it in the statue no it's not
at so it all comes back around to training
and David you have a new and
different window into that world through the stolen ones and the
extensive amount of time that you spend
looking at the issue through the eyes of so many different players
in this story when you think about solutions
and the approach going forward in the future and you think about law
enforcement and you think about public awareness and
stopping the market what do you see
actually I think I i tend to think about more what journalists can do
because you don't have to be a journalist see that there's a paradigm
shift here
there's a groundswell we're having these conversations that I'd
I don't think we were having a year ago or a year a half ago when I started working on this
Frank use the analogy of a hydro because there are so many movings
part advocates survivors well
well journalism is a part of that too reporters are
and that it just hard story to pitch that I have this hydro an issue
with all these different elements so we had to go those same things
and I had to convince an editor that wait this is a
story we should work on this is something she care about so
I think we're all kind of in the same boat
you know I work in journalism so I
can see that up close when I'm talking with law enforcement and advocates they're
having
same exact conversations because
it's just one of those things we had wanna talk about it's taboo in newspapers to
write about sex with children to
so we're all kinda in it together once you look through the looking glass
though there's no going back
you it after that I mean once you
once you understand it you take it on you you can't go back you can on
you can't unring the bell you cannot do it and I think was interesting in your
article was
the discussion the mother and the daughter
that the daughter had to be placed up the Panhandle
waiting trial what's interesting is
most reports of abuse of a family member
come to the mother the custodial
female in the family and the mother
sees the threat
of losing someone she may love
losing a wage earner
the embarrassment and the shame upon the family
so children are often
seen but not hear or they're not believed
so I think your article very much expressed how
how difficult it is for that child
who grow and who runs away 15 or 16
really has no family how difficult it is for them
to reengage with their family because of the taboo
nature and the shame that's brought on
your the one who told everybody
right don't think that mom didn't know
she may have been abused when she was a child your the one who
told everybody it's a big secret
and in most cases and you know I'm not a member in the family
right and I can only know what I know
in most cases she told me that she felt ashamed to tell her mother
instead you know through a series of events getting in trouble and all that
fighting her aunt who happened to be a county commissioner
and she got things moving so you know it
it's a family issue when you really get down to it
and what tell us a little bit more about about Moe I think some people might be
interested in exploring that story as well
through the stolen ones but she was a young girl who finally
after being involved in that child sex trade
she fled back to her mother one day at her hair salon
and her mother had been looking for her and didn't know where she was
right her mother rumor very tight-knit community in northern Sarasota on
traditionally black neighborhood segregated community
and she'd would run away and come back run away and come home
and then for extended periods she didn't come home
her mother had heard rumors and in one day she
she finally leaves and it's only a couple blocks
and she's at her doorstep says you know this is going on
you know help me and her mom didn't know what to do
and it was a struggle to keep her stabilized and comforted so to speak
well enough to kind of get her through the process to help
prosecute the people who were involved and what happened to her
in most cases it was more than a struggle they
ultimately the prosecutors were having conversations
mom eventually comes up comes to a judge because moe had been
been in some violation of probation I think and says
can you please lock her away to get her help
she sort of had to be locked up and
she's both thankful for that and angry about it in retrospect
she seems to be doing well but she's still testifying
this week and Frank
as all the girls do and all the children
the women who were involved
what about as far as stabilization process is concerned there is a debate
now
about locking up the victims
for a period of time to keep them I'll
available for a point for prosecutors
verses putting them in a safe house where they could potentially run away
many of them do
what's your perspective on once you find someone who's been victimized what
what should happen next human trafficking
is a complicated crime in it takes a sophisticated response
in a lot of ways here in florida we are blessed
to have agencies that provide victim services we have the Florida
child advocacy centers and we have a lot a local
child advocacy centers including one right here in Gainesville
also you would be very proud of the job our federal and state
law enforcement agencies are doing as far as victim services
they are very sophisticated the cases that i've dealt with
I've learned from I'm smart enough now to understand that
I must have a victim and I would especially like to have a cooperative victim
victim in order to prove my case so not only do I want to really help that
person
from a heart level
but also I wanna successfully prosecute the person is committed this crime
and so I understand the necessity need for bringing the the
the survivor the necessary services that they need
and not let alone just to make sure I know where they are
so that I can use them if I'm if necessary during the investigation
so the FBI the child that the city centres
Immigration and Customs Enforcement the State Attorney's Office victim
services
on US Attorney's Office victim services personnel
they do an awesome job in ensuring that those
that as victims and survivors are getting the help they need
as well as the follow-on help that they need so
I have not had an instance where they have we haven't been able to
find
the victim after they had that I have had a number of them that have fled
after the crime after there was an arrest was made
with of course put our case in jeopardy but in every instance I've had a victim
my victims were present and ready to testify if necessary at the trial or
or prior to the defendant entering a guilty plea but that's all part of what
I said is a complicated crime
it requires a sophisticated response I really see law enforcement today
at the state level international level is really gearing up
to really understand this crime and figure out exactly what we need to do to
better investigate and prosecute it
what I want you to know is that's not the solution here
we can prosecute more cases and we can send more people to prison
and we can help bring more services to victims and survivors but that's not
going to stop this from happening
if you want to talk about stopping this from happening and you're serious about
it
you can have to go to the heart of this dragon and that's going to be the
marketplace
why is there a market or for this commodity
for sex with children and women on
at this level by the way if you wanna know again how serious this
this crime is you're probably a familiar with
the predator operations that we run all across the state
and where you know we go online with law enforcement and we act as though we're
child at home alone
any in you're probably me with all the the arrests that are made over weekend
you know a dozen or two dozen
you think the people commit those crimes wouldn't do it if the person was selling
that child
for that for *** reasons yeah to engage in the same
to the same purpose do you
no that's the marketplace that I'm talking about the fact that there are
people who are looking
for this commodity again these are other human beings for *** purposes
on the street on the Internet wherever that's what's going on and that's what's
happening right here
if you really want to do something about this you needed need help others become
more aware
the seriousness of this problem and how it's taking place we need to bring this
all in the light
because that's where we're going to have an impact on this problem
and Frank that is a very good final thought for this segment of the
conversation and we'll be wrapping it up we are going to leave with one final
thought
from a survivor her name is Brooke Bellow will take a glimpse of her
experience and her
road to recovery all you need to have his emotional
change as a child all you need is for someone to scare you
and tell you this who you are and this is who you are going to be
if you're not going to stay or be here then you're not going to live
it isn't it doesn't take a lot your just a baby
people seem really nice and all of a sudden they turn into these evil beings
and at first we looked at each other and we laughed
my best friend and I because we thought they were joking and I remember
remember her look at me laughing because you thinking
they're playing a game at first we already been through hell but we just didn't see
this coming
and so when he grabbed me took me outside hung me over the balcony
and took a razor blade
and started beating me well you know
I had to go to the bathroom strip my clothes off and be in the bathtub and they
proceeded to tell us who we are going to do who we are going to be
they season had me take ***
they dressed us
and within a few hours we were out on highway in Los Angeles
prostituting I was in my early twenties
I guess before
left that and I was probably
in my early thirties before
I was able to break the drug addiction and it's probably just gonna last three
years
after a lot of prayer and
a lot of therapy a lot of rewiring of the heart
and mind
that I was able to discover my identity who I was really meant to be it took a really long time
and who better to your final thought from than a survivor who can really give
us
a view into the experience for them the truth and the reality
of human sex trafficking right here in our state right here in our community
and there's much more for you to see and explore through the stolen ones
at the fair Herald Tribune thank you all to all of the members of our panel
tonight for this conversation and to our audience as well
thank you