Rethink Resources

Meanwhile lots of news items to note the past few weeks about youth in the sex trade and related issues:

In Texas everyone is shocked to learn of a 13 year old possibly recruiting other girls into the sex trade.

A report details research on minors involved in the sex trade in several US cities, here Tampa reacts and Las Vegas.

Many court cases resulted in charges like Detroit for 2 separate pimping rings and in Oakland, California where at least 2 girls 11 and 12 years old were pimped out. And convictions for a Toledo Ohio man who pimped out several teenagers and a Arizona man who got 20 years for forcing teen runaways into prostitution.

A city official in Connecticut agreed to forfeit her home as her son was found guilty of holding teen girls against their will in the house as he pimped them out. And a Pennsylvania state trooper is facing charges of tipping off pimps who were under investigation of child prostitution.

Houston police talk here about learning and responding to child prostitution and how much of it is underground and not visible. A mention of a teen who was considered a victim but is now at a boot camp (presumably for another offense) but it shows that once caught up in the juvenile justice system, it’s hard to get out. Sure Orlando police are investigating here about a teen potentially being forced into prostitution and not able to keep any of the money she makes. But they are clear she will only be seen as a victim if she cooperates with police. But in like in Massachusetts, all it takes is being 17 in many communities to qualify for an adult arrest with your name in the paper like here.

In Yakima Washington, a report that labels a girl murdered recently as a teen prostitute states police aren’t looking for her killer(s) even though they have leads because they don’t have the resources.

I did find a good article though on the “troubling history of the White-Slave Traffic Act” also known as the Mann Act, still in use today.

So lots of recent news articles about the recent study on sexually transmitted infection rates among teen girls. Like any study it deserves a close look for how the information was gathered, the conclusions the authors intended and the ones they didn’t necessarily anticipate. I haven’t been able to read the actual report yet. But I do know a lot of girls who agree with the youth here who believe the rates are really high for teens. Of course comprehensive sexual health education and condoms would help that but that’s definitely still a struggle.

Good news is that across the country youth are organizing for change on reproductive justice. Check out this video from the Brooklyn Youth Mothers Collective on Reproductive Justice and Knitting!

Teen accused of inducing friend into prostitution (Texas) Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Police were investigating Wednesday whether a 13-year-old girl accused of luring her teenage friend into prostitution induced other youths as well. Investigators also are looking into the possibility that an older female relative of the suspect was involved.

Study Says Area Falls Short Shielding Kids From Sex Trade (Tampa) Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Social services and law enforcement in the Tampa Bay area need better training and to devote more resources helping children and teenage girls involved in the sex trade, a study released today states. Also, the region’s large number of strip clubs provides ample opportunities for underage girls to show fake identification and dance at the clubs, the study says.

FBI: Pimps force child prostitutes into underground networks (Houston) Wednesday, March 26, 2008 …“One of the remarkable things that we have learned about this is that there really is a tremendous amount of money involved. There is a high demand for young girls in the prostitution world,” Lt. Ches Williams of the Dallas Police Department said. What happens to the children involved in these crimes? Most are provided support to get back on track. But going from street life to the life of a typical teenager is not an easy transition. In fact, the 15-year-old victim in the Heard case has struggled and is currently in a juvenile boot camp.

Report: Las Vegas a Hub for Child Sex Trafficking (Las Vegas) Tuesday, March 25, 2008 The study, produced with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, also finds the region possesses inadequate services to help those it calls victims of the sex trade. Researchers compiled data in 2007 from 16 Las Vegas-area agencies including the FBI, police, Clark County Family Court, county juvenile authorities, the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth and the Salvation Army. “Outreach workers in one organization identified over 400 prostituted children on the streets of Las Vegas in May 2007 alone,” the report said. It said a group called Stop Turning Out Child Prostitutes found some 1,496 minors faced prostitution-related charges in the area since 1994.

Man who pimped runaways to get 20 years (Arizona) Friday, March 21 2008 A 21-year-old man who took in a pair of teenage runaways and turned them to prostitution will spend 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement. The guilty plea on Monday by Joshua Morgan marked the third conviction for child prostitution obtained by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in the past five weeks. Morgan pleaded guilty to child prostitution, attempted child prostitution and attempted sexual contact with a minor, all related to prostituting a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl he had met at a northwest Phoenix park.

Five charged in federal probe of child prostitution rings (Detroit) Thursday, March 20, 2008 Federal investigators have cracked two Detroit-based sex rings that advertised child prostitutes on the Internet and have charged five people, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced today. Two separate but related prostitution rings were headed by Robert C. Daniels, 28, and Dennis Paige of Novi and an FBI investigation accused them and three prostitutes of posting more than 2,800 advertisements on social networking Web sites such as Craigslist and MySpace since Jan. 10, 2006. The rings solicited prostitutes in Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Wis., Cleveland, Washington D.C., New York City and College Park, Md.

The troubling history of the White-Slave Traffic Act. (US) Thursday, March 20, 2008 The history of the Mann Act raises serious questions about the use of federal law enforcement to investigate the private lives of consenting adults. Amid early twentieth century media hysteria and a moral panic about white farm girls being lured into cities and forced into prostitution, progressive Illinois Congressman James Robert Mann sponsored the White-Slave Traffic Act. Against the wishes of states’ rights advocates, the legislation federalized vice crimes that had previously been the purview of local law enforcement. Though primarily intended to fight prostitution, the Act substantially expanded the scope of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and soon became the starting point for a wide-range of cases, including many against consenting but unmarried couples.

Toledo man gets 8 years for prostituting 2 teens (Detroit) Thursday, March 20, 2008 A Toledo man who held two teenagers captive in his Downing Avenue home in 2005 and then sold them for sex was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to eight years in prison, authorities said. Deric Willoughby, 41, a man with a violent history.

Pimp’s mom, a town official, owned home where girls were confined (New Haven) Tuesday, March 18, 2008 The commissioner of a government agency that helps women struggling with domestic violence on Long Island agreed to forfeit a house in New York City where her son kept girls as young as 12 as prostitutes, authorities say. Constance Carter-Davis owned a two-family home in Queens where her son, Corey “Magnificent” Davis, confined four girls aged 12 to 18 and forced them to work as prostitutes, authorities say. According to court papers, she forfeited the house as part of her son’s plea agreement.

West Side Runaway’s Criminal History (Yakima) Thursday, March 13 2008 We may never know what happened to a teen runaway found dead by orchard workers. Yakima county sheriff’s detectives confirmed Thursday, Jaleeza Lobdell, was also a teen prostitute. Although the county coroner has ruled 14-year-old Lobdell’s death a murder, the sheriff’s detectives won’t probe further into her death because they said they don’t have the resources to look for the men Lobdell was last known to be with.

STD Data Come as No Surprise, Area Teenagers Say (Washington DC) Thursday, March 13, 2008 Lorena Granados, a junior at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax County, was not the least bit surprised. “A lot of girls fall in love, and it doesn’t seem they care about protection,” she said yesterday. “It’s ‘What am I going to enjoy right now?’ Or they’ll say, ‘I know he hasn’t been with anybody. . . . He’s clean.’ Or, ‘He’ll stop before we go too far.’ ”

Agents Investigating After Orlando Teen Says Man Forced Her Into Prostitution (Orlando) Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agents are investigating an Orlando man for sex trafficking after undercover stings lead them to two women forced into prostitution. A hidden camera caught a sting in October where agents encountered a woman who was six months pregnant. Their case fell apart when she became too intimidated to testify. Tuesday, agents found a second victim. At just 18 years of age, she said she brings in about $1,000 a day, but doesn’t keep any of it. “I get it back in a way. I don’t see anything bad with not keeping the cash. People will rob me for cash, but they won’t rob me for high heels and dresses,” said the girl. MBI agents believe Aaron George is the man forcing the women into prostitution…Agents said they won’t pursue charges against the girl if she testifies against him.

Arrest In Alleged Oak. Underage Prostitution Ring (California) Wednesday, March 12 2008 Oakland police arrested one man and were searching for another in connection with a childhood prostitution ring that involved at least three runaway girls. Two of the girls, ages 11 and 12, disappeared from Frick Middle School one afternoon last week, but were located by police a few days later. The investigation also led to the discovery of a third underage girl suspected of being sexually exploited.

Police charge Maine teen with prostitution (Massachusetts) Thursday, March 6, 2008 Walpole police arrested a (17 year old) Maine teenager Sunday, alleging she intended to sell sexual favors at a Cedar Street home. She was accompanied by two men and a woman who appeared to be soliciting sex for her.