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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Sex Trafficking's Unholy Tour

THE MONTH of fright is underway, which means half the city is doing its best to give me a heart attack.

Between massive spider webs stretched across driveways and skeletons dancing in trees, it’s really starting to look like Creep Town around here, which is excellent.

I do so love Savannah’s early enthusiasm for Halloween, even if I’m kind of afraid to walk the dog past the nice yellow bungalow on the corner that’s been transformed into the Shrieking Shack.

Regrettably, there’s a lot more to be scared of in real life than any moaning goblin yard decoration.
We’ve got masked shooters on the loose, multiple government agencies haunted by scandal and some seriously misguided mad science about to go down on Elba Island.

Even deeper into the darkness looms a human trafficking industry that’s harder to get a handle on than a zombie on flakka.

Read more from Connect Savannah 

Sex-Trafficking Sting Nabs 2 Vancouver Men


Portland police officers arrested seven men, including two from Vancouver, in a sex-trafficking sting operation late September.

From Sept. 19 to 23, investigators with the Portland Police Bureau’s Sex Trafficking Unit posted ads on websites known for sex trafficking. Seven men contacted undercover officers to arrange for paid sex acts, the bureau said. 

Read more from The Columbian 

FBI Says Two Men Indicted For Sex Trafficking Could Be In Seattle Area

SEATTLE – The FBI is asking for help tracking down two men charged with sex trafficking who might be in the Seattle area.

Aaron M. Barnes, 33, and Kamau Curnal, 28, are both charged with one count of sex trafficking of a child and one count of transportation of a minor for the purpose of prostitution following an investigation in Oregon.

Read more from FOXSeattle

Monday, October 3, 2016

Three Duke Women Take On Human Trafficking



Three high-ranking government officials outlined how everyday consumers can help combat human trafficking Thursday.

Susan Coppedge, Trinity ‘88 and the United States ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons; Andrea Wilson, MPP/MBA ‘12 and a foreign officer in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Amy Pope, Law ‘09 and deputy assistant to the President and deputy homeland security advisor on the National Security Council, spoke at the Sanford School of Public Policy about the government’s role in monitoring and policing trafficking.

Coppedge—who was appointed to her current position by President Barack Obama in 2015—said her own inspiration came after joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and prosecuting trafficking cases. 

Read more from The Chronicle

Four Arrested For Human Trafficking In Connection To 2015 Case


The arrest of two human trafficking suspects in 2015 led to four more human trafficking arrests this week.

According to Louisiana State Police, investigators were able to positively identify four human trafficking suspects after working closely with the victim. The victim told police that Tina Marie Wiles, Ricky L. Hale, John P. Cox Jr. and Clifton P. Simmons all held her against her will and forced her to participate in sexual acts between June and August of 2015 in East Baton Rouge and Livingston Parishes.

  • Wiles, 29, is charged with Human Trafficking.
  • Hale, 56, is charged with Human Trafficking.
  • Cox, 36, is charged with Human Trafficking and Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin and Methamphetamine.
  • Simmons, 43, is currently incarcerated in the Tangipahoa Parish jail for a separate incident, but will be charged with Human Trafficking and Aggravated Assault with a firearm.
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Read more from Channel 4WWL

Cocoa Man Found Guilty Of Sex Trafficking Of Child

A Cocoa man has been found guilty of sex trafficking of a child, with force, fraud or coercion and production of child pornography by a federal jury, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

Kennedy Harris, Jr., 23, of Cocoa faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Sentencing in the case is slated for December 19.

Harris was indicted on May 11. The Ccooa Police Department came into contact with the victim in this case on February 10.

Read more from Florida Today

Two Charged in Maryland with Rape, Human Trafficking, Others


Two men were arrested in Frederick, Maryland, and charged with human trafficking-related offenses, according to Frederick police.

Officers responded to the Super 8 Motel on Monocracy Boulevard for reports of a domestic dispute. When they arrived, a juvenile victim said she was reported missing out of Texas and brought to Maryland by one of the men.

Thomas Duane Jones, 35, of Houston, Texas, and Marvin Bernard Armstrong, 46, of High Point, North Carolina, were arrested. Police said the men were charged with rape, sex offense, human trafficking by force, human trafficking (take cause), false imprisonment and second-degree assault.