Troy’s Morning Coffee Reflections

Human Trafficking is the second largest illegal trade just behind the drug trade. The State Department estimates that it is a $9.5 Billion-a-year industry- and that number may well be much larger because Human Trafficking is a well-hidden, under-reported, under-publicized and widespread crisis.

Some of the cases have been made public, such as the case of the so-called “L.A. Madam”, Maribel Rodriguez Vasquez. The 28 year old woman was part of a family-run human trafficking ring that recruited Guatemalan women and children (some that were rescued were as young as 13) to come to the U.S. under false promises of good jobs and a better life. Once the women got to the United States, they were forced to strip and prostitute themselves.

Jasmine Caldwell was 14 and selling sex on the streets when an opportunity arose to escape her pimp: an undercover policeman picked her up.

The cop could have rescued her from the pimp, who ran a string of 13 girls and took every cent they earned. If the cop had taken Jasmine to a shelter, she could have resumed her education and tried to put her life back in order.

Instead, the policeman showed her his handcuffs and threatened to send her to prison. Terrified, she cried and pleaded not to be jailed. Then, she said, he offered to release her in exchange for sex.

Afterward, the policeman returned her to the street. Then her pimp beat her up for failing to collect any money.

And then there is Katelyn’s story…

At the age of 16, bleeding, broken, stabbed and HIV positive, “I ran, but this time I guess I just didn’t run fast enough,” said Katelyn, a child sex slave.

Captured and raped at a young age from Moldova, Katelyn and her younger sister were forced into a trunk, taken to London, and then shipped to America where she was forced into sexual slavery. Overnight Katelyn went from living a life defined as a daughter and a sister to a life exploited by an international prostitution ring.

Based on tradition, if Katelyn had returned to Moldova, a small country between Russia and Romania, she would have been thrown into prison or killed. Marked as trash, her only option was to continue with the one who captured her.

Told that if she behaved well she would not be beaten or deported, Katelyn was made a fake ID and handed papers granting her access into America, and furthermore stripping from her the innocence of her childhood. At this point the joy of living life turned into the uninvited struggle for survival.

Katelyn said it was then that she learned her first lesson about life; it’s all about survival. Somehow finding the strength to fight and the ability to perform as they wished, Katelyn continued on.

Katelyn continued to perform her tasks and meet her quotas, which kept her pimp from beating her. “I got really good at it,” she said.

After years of traveling and performing sexual duties in different international and domestic cities, Katelyn was then relocated to Atlanta to live and work exclusively. While in Atlanta, she contracted HIV, turning her into a poor commodity for her pimp. It was then that the beatings began. “I can’t tell you how many fractures and bruises I have had over… the years I have been in this country”, Katelyn said.”But most importantly, I’ve always managed to survive.”

With little faith in herself, given her situation, the one thing she believed she could do was run. After several attempts at escaping, which always led to bruises and broken bones, Katelyn heard the walls crying out for her.

Next, Katelyn was relocated for the last time in her life to Houston, Texas. Etched into a bathroom wall in a New York shelter where she stopped to clean herself was an 800 number followed by the words GET OUT NOW. Katelyn said. “I was tired of digging into garbage cans for food.” The call was made, her path for freedom was discovered and she was ready to run, but she didn’t know how far she would get. After speaking with the woman on the other end of the phone, Katelyn felt encouraged and redirected toward freedom.

A mere 5′4 and 86 pounds, Katelyn was sick and frail, yet she was determined to survive. Katelyn found herself exchanging sexual deeds for a bus ticket, in order to begin her three-day journey across three states with no food.Along her journey she was beaten, but that didn’t stop her from running. Survival was her goal and the only way she knew how to achieve it was to run.

Just three hours away from the recovery home and about to board her last bus to freedom, the bus driver realized Katelyn was sick, and instead of allowing her to board the bus, he sent for medical help. Help that she desperately needed, yet time that she couldn’t spare. In fear and urgency, she escaped and continued to run. After phoning her rescuer she was informed that help was only 20 minutes away. For the next 20 minutes Katelyn ran faster than she ever had. “I had to get to her” the recovery director said.”But most importantly I had to get her away from him.”

In those 20 minutes right before her help arrived, Katelyn’s journey for survival came to a tragic end; her pimp caught her for the last time. Keeping her captive in a car and beating her, he broke her collarbone and both legs before throwing her out of the vehicle. “I ran as fast as I could,” she said. “I really did. I am so sorry, but I couldn’t run fast enough.”

Upon the discovery of her body, where she was left to die, she was returned to the hospital where it was reported that she passed away 11 hours later. In her last words to the woman that was coming to rescue her she said. “Don’t close your eyes and go to sleep and forget about me. Please don’t forget me”.

Strung together by the thread of remembrance, community leaders, politicians, celebrities, not-for profit organizations, and the media will gather in conjunction with the community to honor a valiant child’s struggle for freedom.

No longer will her running be in vain. Although her physical survival is no longer possible, her heroic attempt to escape child sex trafficking will now be seen as footsteps for all those who feel too weak to run.

DISCLAIMER: Due to the ongoing investigations regarding Katelyn’s life, confirmation of her death has not yet been obtained. Until then, Katelyn’s life will represent the thousands of child sex slaves still trapped on our streets today. All quotes and pertinent information contained in this press release regarding Katelyn’s life was obtained through recorded conversations with Katelyn directly.

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly

In a Virginia hotel that ordinarily caters to business travelers and vacationers, FBI agents and local police officers were encountering a different kind of clientele.

Throughout Friday evening, a handful of prostitutes came thinking they’d made an appointment with a “customer” in Room 403.

With the FBI busting the largest child prostitution ring in history, it shows that Operation “Innocence Lost” has been a success over the last five years.

The coordinated operation, which ended June 22, was the largest in the history of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which marks its five-year anniversary this month. To date, the initiative has rescued more than 400 child victims and led to the conviction of 308 individuals who exploited children through prostitution. Investigations have uncovered schemes that run the gamut from prostituting children at truck stops to promoting their services on the Internet.

“The sex trafficking of children remains one of the most violent and unforgivable crimes,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said during a press conference at FBI Headquarters. “What is different as we stand here today is that we are faced with the increasing use of social network sites and other advances in technology to carry out these crimes and facilitate these criminal enterprises.”

The Innocence Lost initiative was created in 2003 to address the growing problem of child prostitution in America. Our Criminal Investigative Division partnered with the Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice and with the nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to bring together state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers. The initiative’s 24 task forces and working groups have recovered 433 children to date and seized over $3 million in assets.

“Child trafficking for the purpose of prostitution is organized criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale and trade,” said NCMEC President and CEO Ernie Allen during the press conference. “These kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This is 21st century slavery.”

More than 350 state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies participated in “Operation Cross Country.” The 16 cities targeted spanned the country, ranging from Boston to Miami to San Francisco. They focused primarily on rescuing kids and identifying the organized networks that target and traffic children. The operation was the largest since 2005, when a nationwide sweep identified some 30 child victims and led to the arrest of 19 individuals.

Our partnership with NCMEC has resulted in a significant number of success stories. Examples include:

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In Kansas, Don L. Elbert, III forced three underage sisters—two of whom were 14-year-old twins—into prostitution. He was captured and pled guilty to child sex trafficking in May 2007. In January, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
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In Detroit, Keith Goodwin was sentenced last October to 97 months in prison for the production of child pornography. During a search of his residence, three child victims of prostitution were recovered.
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In Atlantic City, a former U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced in March to 23 years in prison for operating a criminal enterprise involving 35-40 females whom he forced into prostitution. His youngest victim was 14 years old.

In addition to the Innocence Lost initiative, our Crimes Against Children program manages Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) Teams, which support state and local law enforcement in investigations, and the Innocent Images National Initiative, which targets the proliferation of child porn.

The message to the public, NCMEC’s Allen said, is: “If you see it in your city, if you hear about it, if you suspect it, report it.”

To do that, please contact the NCMEC hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or file a report through its CyberTipline.

The war is still on but this battle was WON!

Never Give Up,

Troy

At 12:30pm EST today, the FBI and Center for Missing & Exploited Children announced the arrest of over 300 suspected leaders in what could be the USA’s largest Child Sex Trafficking Operation in history.

And even better than the arrests is the recovery of over 400 victims of this Child Sex Prostitution Ring.

The arrests accrued across the nation in run down neighborhoods, trust stops along some of the US Interstate systems and in 16 cities and towns including Dallas, Boston, Rockville MD.

This is the fifth year of the FBI Child Protection Program.

Here is a link to the Fox News report.