Torture in [USA] [other countries]
Human Trafficking in [USA] [other countries]
Street Children in [USA] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [USA] [other countries]
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

In the early years of the 21^st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/USA.htm

ARCHIVES [Part 2 of 4]

CAUTION: The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the USA. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

Human trafficking in Macon? Depends on whom you ask

Amy Leigh Womack, macon.com, Jul. 29, 2008

www.macon.com/2008/07/29/416886/human-trafficking-in-macon-depends.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

For one woman, human trafficking began with an advertisement promising the opportunity to work in America at a hair salon. She was assured that her travel arrangements and documents would be taken care of. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to work and earn enough money to send back home to support the woman's family and three young children. Once she reached Atlanta, however, she found herself working in a massage parlor with false travel documents. She was forced to prostitute herself to a quota of 20 men to repay traffickers about $80,000 in exaggerated travel expenses, room and board, according to an Atlanta social service agency.

Probe: Diplomats abuse their workers, invoke immunity [DOC]

Anthony M. Destefano, Newsday, Jul 28, 2008

-- Source: www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nytraf285780386jul28,0,6438774.story

www.eyeontheun.org/assets/attachments/articles/5409_Probe_Diplomats_abuse_their_workers_invoke_immunity.doc

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Federal investigators have uncovered numerous cases of foreign diplomats - mostly in New York and Washington, D.C. - who abused their domestic workers without fear of prosecution because of diplomatic immunity, according to a government report to be released tomorrow. The level of cruelty of some of the allegations appears similar to those recently uncovered in the human trafficking prosecution of Varsha and Mahender Sabhnani, the Muttontown business couple convicted of abusing two Indonesian maids. At the federal trial in Central Islip the maids, who have sued the Sabhnanis, said they were tortured and beaten, sometimes resorting to foraging for food in garbage pails. At least 42 cases of suspected abuse by diplomats – including allegations of forced labor, human trafficking and physical abuse - have been uncovered in the past eight years, the Government Accountability Office study found, according to people who have seen summaries of the document.

Sex Slaves: From Mexico to US

Kevin Rowson, 11 Alive, Atlanta, 7/7/2008

www.infowars.com/sex-slaves-from-mexico-to-us/

[accessed 3 May 2012]

The female victims were as young as 14-years old. They expected a better life in America only to learn when they got here that they were sex slaves.

An indictment says three of the men -- 31-year old Juan Cortez-Meza, 34-year old Amador Cortez-Meza and 25-year old Francisco Cortez-Meza -- travelled to Mexico to seduce and befriend the females with promises of a better life in America. "Once they started dating them in Mexico they would get them to come to the US promising them jobs in restaurants or cleaning houses and then when they got here they were forced into prostitution," said Assistant United States Attorney Susan Coppedge.

The indictment says "The victims were beaten, threatened, or their families back in Mexico were threatened in order to force the victims to work as prostitutes against their will."

Indian workers' struggle shines light on human trafficking, slave labor

Sunil Freeman, Party for Socialism and Liberation PSL, July 4, 2008

www2.pslweb.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr009=v29yt8h827.app5b&page=NewsArticle&id=9509&news_iv_ctrl=1261

[accessed 9 January 2011]

The plight of immigrant Indian workers who were deceived into virtual slavery has brought attention to the vile practice of human trafficking. Indian workers protest slave-like conditions before the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., June 11. The workers took jobs with Signal International to work on the U.S. Gulf Coast following the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Indian workers were told they would receive "green cards," allowing them permanent legal residence in the United States. Many who left their families behind in search of better wages had been told they would be able to bring their relatives. The promises were all lies. Instead of receiving permanent legal status, the workers—who had paid fees of up to $20,000 to Signal—received 10-month H-2B temporary worker visas. The workers were essentially trapped, and their employers knew it. Their documents were stolen and wages were withheld. For all practical purposes, slavery had returned to Louisiana.

Modern slavery global scourge, speakers tell CBF supporters

Rachel Mehlhaff and Lee Ann Marcel, Associated Baptist Press ABP, MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 23, 2008

old.abpnews.com/content/view/3368/53/

[accessed 4 September 2012]

The woman came over from China expecting love, marriage and a better life, according to a speaker on human trafficking June 19, during a workshop session at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn. But she wasn’t allowed to leave her house for three years. Her husband was the only one who ever told her she was beautiful and loved, said Paul Lange, executive director of Oasis USA. She had a twisted loyalty; at times she felt loved and dedicated to her husband, but most days he abused her. He seized her documents so she couldn’t leave, Lange said. Instead of the freedom she sought, she became a captive in her own house.

Researchers Issue Report on Human Trafficking

Newswise, Northeastern University, 6/16/2008

www.newswise.com/articles/researchers-issue-report-on-human-trafficking

[accessed 9 January 2011]

A team of researchers at Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice, in collaboration with Arizona State University and Sam Houston State University, has issued a report about the incidence of and response to human trafficking in the United States. Lead by principal investigators Assistant Professor Amy Farrell, Ph.D., and Associate Dean Jack McDevitt, the researchers conducted a random survey of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to better understand how agencies identify and respond to suspected cases of human trafficking. Previous research has provided limited information on human trafficking cases, from specific jurisdictions, while this survey provides the first comprehensive national look at how local, state and county law enforcement agencies respond to human trafficking.

The report, entitled “Understanding and Improving Law Enforcement Responses to Human Trafficking,” was made possible by a grant from the National Institute of Justice and is now available online … Full Report [PDF] … Executive Summary [PDF]

Fulton judge, deputy son charged with human trafficking

Appen Newspapers, Atlanta, June 18, 2008

www.northfulton.com/Articles-i-2008-06-05-172790.112113_Fulton_judge_deputy_son_charged_with_human_trafficking.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

A former Fulton County magistrate judge, his Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy son and the deputy's wife have all been charged with human trafficking, among other charges, for their part in allegedly forcing an Indian nanny to work without pay in their Woodstock home beginning in 2003. The suit also alleges they then used their influence to hassle her after she escaped with the help of a neighbor.

The charges against the three allege the Garretts later stopped paying the victim for her work as a nanny, significantly curtailed her freedom and ability to leave their home, and threatened to malign her to her family in India if she did not work for them. The woman was reportedly forced to work more than 16 hours a day, every day, under a barrage of insults, intimidation and threats of jail and deportation. With the assistance of a neighbor, the victim escaped the Garretts' home, said Nahmias.

In addition, the indictment alleges that after the victim escaped, the Garretts falsely accused her of theft to local authorities, reported her illegal status to federal authorities and falsely accused her of engaging in terrorism-related activities to the Department of Homeland Security.

One woman who operates a shelter in northwest MO speaks out

Amelia Waters, Connect Tristates News, 05.20.2008

www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=136730

[accessed 9 January 2011]

"We have dealt with many cases where as the girls are brought in as mail-order brides, when they got here basically they were used for prostitution and pornographic purposes," said Cheryl Leffler, who operates a women's shelter in northwest Missouri for more then 10 years.

"They usually start with just written correspondence with them, and after they have pretended to be the perfect person they get the girls to trust them," said Leffler. Traffickers promise the world to potential victims and pay for their plane ticket to Kansas City. Traffickers then take them to their home, where the horrific experience begins. "They had been traumatized. Their first sexual experience had basically been brutally raping them to get them under control," states Leffler, "'This is what's going to happen to you if you don't do what I tell you.' They thoroughly believe these guys will kill them."

Grand Jury Indicts Human Trafficking Suspect

WKYT 27 News, May 15, 2008

www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/18968409.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Police say Walker lured two women to Lexington then forced them to work at a strip club then took their money. The women also say Walker tried to keep them from leaving.

Man Sentenced for Human Trafficking and Alien Smuggling

U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, May 12, 2008 – Press Release 08-406

www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/May/08-crt-406.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Corea lured young Central American women to the United States with promises of good jobs. However, once the young women arrived, they were forced to work in the bars and cantinas of the defendant and co-defendants selling high-priced drinks to male customers. The women were subjected to numerous threats of harm to themselves and family members in order to compel their servitude, and some suffered sexual assaults at the hands of the defendant and his co-defendants.

Former Human Trafficking Victim Speaks Out

KGMB CBS 9 News - May 3rd 2008

www.ginsc.net/main.php?option=view_article&mode=0&article=5769&lang=ge

[accessed 9 January 2011]

HAWAII - This young Tongan named Francis came here in 2001, Lueleni Maka promised him $240 a week. He was paid only $20. "I ask him about the rest of my money. Said he sent em back to my family, so I called my parents and they said they never get nothing from him," said former victim Francis.

Maka told Francis he would turn him into immigration if he tried to escape the pig farm he stayed at. "He make me afraid of him. He hit me a couple of times. yeah. metal frames, I get scars on my back from him. Get guys they worse than me. He beat 'em up till blood coming out their mouth and nose. it's very sad. We cannot do nothing. we so scared of him," Francis said.

Sentences given in human trafficking plot

United Press International UPI, Houston, April 28, 2008

www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/04/28/Sentences-given-in-human-trafficking-plot/UPI-66051209440209/

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Members of a human trafficking ring have been sentenced for a conspiracy to smuggle Central American women into the United States and keep them in forced labor. Eight defendants were convicted in Houston in connection with a scheme to force the women to work in restaurants, bars and cantinas in the Houston area. The defendants were accused of planning to use threats of harm to the victims and their families to keep them from escaping before they paid off their smuggling debts.

How an eastern Iowa teen prostitution, human trafficking ring took root

Jennifer Hemmingsen, The Gazette, April 20, 2008

swoplv.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/ia-how-an-eastern-iowa-teen-prostitution-human-trafficking-ring-took-root/

[accessed 9 January 2011]

In the basement of an ordinary-looking Williamsburg home, the 13-year-old girl was given a choice. Either she would have sex with two men nearly twice her age or she would be given back to her kidnapper. Already in the week since Demont Bowie told the suburban Minneapolis girl she belonged to him, he'd beaten and abused her, starved her and deprived her of sleep. He traded her body to his friends and even a mechanic. When Demont told her to do something to someone, she did. There was no refusing. He'd said he'd kill her, kill her family, if she tried to leave. - htcp

3 Arrested On Suspicion Of Human Trafficking

The Jerusalem Post, 06/06/2006

www.traffickingproject.org/2008/04/india-emigration-act-upgrade.html

[accessed 3 May 2012]

According to the complaints, the victims were forced to work nearly 24 hours a day and were advised that it would be necessary for them to work for several years while they repaid their "travel debt." The victims allegedly were threatened, and their passports were kept from them.

Sex victim gives voice to problem

T.J. Greaney, Columbia Daily Tribune, March 23, 2008

thepinkcross.org/pinkcross-forums/general-discussion/lady-speaks-her-ordeal-a-victim-human-trafficking

[accessed 3 May 2012]

At 15, Theresa Flores was a self-described "blond, white girl" from an upper-class Detroit suburb and went out on date with a boy she knew from school. That night she was attacked and raped as the boy’s cousins took photos. It was the beginning of an agonizing two years for Flores. Her attackers - members of a gang - blackmailed her with the threat of revealing the photos and forced her to become a sex slave. Fearing for her life, she escaped only after her family moved from the state, taking her with them. "You don’t think that it happens here" in the suburbs, "and until it hits you between the eyes, you don’t realize it," she said. "But it can happen to anybody."

Human trafficking steps from the shadows

Barry Bergman, Public Affairs, UC Berkely News: Berkeleyan, 12 March 2008

www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2008/03/12_trafficking.shtml

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Describing herself as "a nice Catholic girl who lived in a large, suburban house" near Detroit during her teenage years, she said she was targeted by traffickers, drugged, and date-raped at the age of 15 - "I was just a kid," she said - and then blackmailed and forced to work as a prostitute "for two long years."

"They said they would kill me and my family and my dog if I didn't do what they said," reported Flores, adding that she was "beaten into silence every night" by her captors. Throughout her ordeal, she said, she was permitted to live at home, sneaking out every night to turn tricks, and then returning home and going to school the next day. Once, she said, she was kidnapped, taken to inner-city Detroit, and "tortured for hours and hours and left for dead" before being returned to her emotionally absent parents by an unsympathetic police officer. Only when her father moved the family to another city after a job transfer, she said, did she finally break with her captors.

Indian Workers Accuse Signal International Of "Human Trafficking"

Steve Phillips, WLOX ABC 13, Pascagoula, Mar 06, 2008

www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=7977223

[accessed 9 January 2011]

They talk of living "like pigs in a cage" in a company-run "work camp." "I've been a guest worker all my life. I've never seen these kinds of conditions," said the interpreter, "We lived 24 people to a room. And for this, the company deducted $1,050 a month from our paychecks."

Man Pleads Guilty In 'Kennel Case' Rape

KPHO 5, Phoenix News, January 25, 2008

www.kpho.com/news/15142425/detail.html

[Last accessed 9 January 2011]

The accused ringleader behind a horrific 2005 kidnapping and rape case pleaded guilty on Friday to six charges after admitting his role, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.

The 15-year-old victim was kidnapped, gang raped and during her 42-day captivity, forced to engage in acts of prostitution, Thomas said. She was mostly confined to a dog kennel, Thomas said.

Website Content Calls for Action to Combat Human Trafficking

The Evangelical Covenant Church, Chicago, IL, January 25, 2008

blogs.covchurch.org/newswire/2008/01/25/6075/

[accessed 26 August 2011]

That reality hit home for one Chicago area family when their 17-year-old daughter was abducted and forced into prostitution. It would be seven years before she was found. The teenager had decided to delay her college plans and answered an advertisement seeking a nanny, recalls Ruth Hill, executive minister of Women Ministries, who knows one of the girl’s cousins. The girl was kidnapped as soon as she arrived at the home for the job interview. Five years later, the girl was able to slip out a postcard saying she was being held at a bar in Cincinnati, but her captors had moved her by the time law enforcement arrived. It would be another two years before the FBI found her - addicted to heroin and pregnant.

Georgia Man Sentenced to 15 Years on Sex Trafficking and Mann Act Charges

U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, January 24, 2008 – Press Release 08-058

www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/January/08_crt_058.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

"Defendant Jones' sentence sends a clear message that those who traffic in people will be harshly punished," said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias. "Defendant Jones preyed on numerous young American women who fell for his fraudulent 'modeling' scheme, signed contracts in which they owed the defendant money, then were forced and coerced into prostitution to pay back the contracts. The case broke when two victims were brave enough to come forward and report Jones' crimes to APD, whose human trafficking task force worked closely with the FBI in bringing justice to the victims."

Numerous victims were on hand for the sentencing and testified that Jones caused them to engage in sex acts, including oral sex and vaginal intercourse, with himself and others, by striking them and threatening to beat them. One victim submitted her statement to the court, outlining the abuse she suffered at the hands of Jones and stating that Jones was "a cruel and manipulative man whose life revolved around the sexual,emotional, physical and psychological exploitation of young women." She stated that her life was devastated and that she even considered suicide on more than one occasion to escape Jones' brutality.

Brothel/human trafficking operation discovered in Tumon [Guam]

Mindy Aguon, KUAM News, January 13, 2008

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

[accessed 12 September 2011]

[scroll down]

Officers went to the Blue Room in Upper Tumon where they found a mini-brothel. Police believe the girls were brought over from Chuuk, under false pretenses that they would be working at a restaurant. Instead, they would be forced to work in the brothel, as their passports were allegedly withheld by the owners of the establishment, who are Korean.

Three get max sentences for roles in human trafficking ring

Brian Donohue, The Star-Ledger, January 04, 2008

www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/three_get_max_sentences_for_ro.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

A federal judge in Trenton today sentenced three people to the maximum sentences allowed for their role in a human trafficking ring that smuggled young women from Honduras and forced them into indentured servitude working in Hudson County bars.

The Rosales-Martinez sisters admitted they helped oversee dozens of illegal Hondurans who were forced to work six days a week and live in cramped Hudson County apartments until they could repay smuggling fees as high as $20,000. The immigrants earned $5 an hour, plus tips, by dancing and drinking with male patrons at bars in Union City and Guttenberg. One ring member said the girls were encouraged to prostitute themselves; another said they were beaten if they ignored the house rules. Another told agents she was forced to ingest abortion pills after ringleaders learned she was pregnant. The baby was born in a toilet and died.

A Tennessee man is in jail in Lexington, after being charged with human trafficking

WKYT 27 News, Dec 13, 2007

www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/12456971.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

45-year-old Calvin Walker was arrested yesterday morning at the Catalina Motel and charged with two counts of human trafficking for allegedly forcing two women to work at a local strip club, then taking their money.

The women say he lured them here from Tennessee, then when they tried to leave, he took their identification and their money.

Four Accused Of Human Trafficking, Prostitution

WBEN 930, December 11, 2007 – Source: www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=08937

www.prostitutionsucks.com/?p=6723

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Federal agents conducted early morning raids at four massage parlors and accupressure locations the government says were fronts for prostitution and human trafficking. U.S. Attorney Terry Flynn says the four suspects charged large amounts of money to women in Asia who wanted to come to the United States. The women were forced to pay back the fees by performing sex for money inside those spas, says Flynn.

Human trafficking more common in Ca.

Nannette Miranda, KGO-TV/DT, Dec. 4, 2007

abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=5814341

[accessed 9 January 2011]

California is the top destination in the U.S. for people who force women and girls into hard labor and sex trade. U.C. Berkeley researchers found 57 forced labor operations over a five year period, in about a dozen California cities, involving more than 500 people from 18 countries.

Sex slaves, human trafficking ... in America?

Grace Kahng, TODAYshow.com contributor, 12/3/2007

today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22083762

[accessed 9 January 2011]

In spring of 2004, Katya (not her real name), like thousands of other foreign exchange university students, was looking forward to the summer job placement that she and a friend had received in Virginia Beach, Va. When she and her friend Lena arrived at Dulles Airport after a long flight from Ukraine, they were relieved to be met by fellow countrymen who spoke Russian.

“When we got to the hotel in Detroit, everything changed,” says Katya. “They closed the door and sat us down on the couch, took our passports and papers and said, ‘You owe us big money for bringing you here.’ They gave us strip clothes and told us that we were going to be working at a strip club called Cheetahs.”

Former Wrestler Found Guilty By Federal Jury On Federal Sex Trafficking And Forced Labor Charges

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias, Dept. of Justice, Northern District of Georgia, 21 Nov 2007

www.justice.gov/usao/gan/press/2007/11-21-07.pdf

[accessed 3 May 2012]

In addition to forcing the victims to work as prostitutes, Norris made the women work in and around his two homes in Cartersville. Witnesses testified that Norris required the victims to haul trees, lay sod, and paint. The evidence at trial further established that Norris set strict rules and fined the women for such infractions as talking too much or failing to exercise. In addition, he kept the women financially indebted to him by charging them for food, medicine, and cigarettes. Norris then told the victims that they could not leave until their debts were paid, all the while continuing to increase the debt he claimed he was owed.

Human trafficking often below radar in Columbus

John Futty, The Columbus Dispatch, November 19, 2007

www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/11/19/humtraf.ART_ART_11-19-07_B3_T08H5TH.html?sid=101

[accessed 9 January 2011 – access may now be restricted]

Human-trafficking cases in Columbus are rare, but when they occur, they aren't likely to be reported to law-enforcement agencies.

"In four of the five labor-trafficking cases, service providers indicated that, although they knew whom in law enforcement to contact about trafficking victims, they could not take the chance that the disclosure could lead to negative consequences for their clients," researchers wrote in their report, released last month. Language barriers and the fear of arrest and deportation were among the reasons that human-trafficking cases go unreported, the study found. "For the undocumented, the overriding concern is about immigration status," said Angie Plummer, executive director of the Community Refugee and Immigration Service, one of the groups interviewed by researchers. "There is a reluctance to present victims to officials who have the right and ability to turn them over to (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)."

Human Trafficking a Big Problem in Florida

humantrafficking.org -- Adapted from: Matthew Schwartz, "Human Trafficking." Action news.com. 11 Nov 2007

www.humantrafficking.org/updates/809

[accessed 9 January 2011]

"Sue" says she ran away from a foster home at 13. She met a man in his 40's who promised her free rent, meals and a job. After a few months, "Sue" says things changed, drastically.  "He started beating me with sticks, poles, knives, hammers. It really got out of control. So besides fighting the street you had to fight this non-human. i was told, if we left, he was gonna hunt us down, and, you know, kill us."

"Sara" says the traffickers who held her poured gasoline on her while they held a match. "They kicked and stomped on me. They dragged me by the hair. Fifteen guys circled me and stomped on me."

Ukraine woman forced to dance at strip club testifies in D.C.

Todd Spangler, Free Press Washington Staff, Washington, 03 November 2007

forum.ukietv.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&goto=2129&#msg_2129

[accessed 9 January 2011]

Lured from the Ukraine with the promise of a student visa, the young woman believed she was headed to the U.S. to study and to Virginia Beach to work as a waitress -- not to Detroit, where she was forced to dance at a strip club. Using the alias "Katya" to protect herself, the 22-year-old woman spoke publicly for the first time today, describing to a congressional panel how she was forced to work at the Detroit club for months until she and another young woman escaped with the help of one of the patrons of the club. "They forced me to work six days a week for 12 hours a day," she said of the men who made her work at Cheetah's in Detroit. "I could not refuse to go to work or I would be beaten." While she was forced to dance at the strip club, she said she was not made to be a prostitute.

Houston major hub for human trafficking

Susan Carroll, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 28, 2007

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5251655.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

The picture, with its implicit threat, was all it took. It was taken just before Christmas 2004. She had been thinking about running away from the windowless bar on Houston's northwest side, where he kept her and other women, forcing some of them into prostitution while they paid off their "debts."

But Maximino "Chimino" Mondragon knew of her plans. Carrying a camera and Christmas presents for the woman's daughter, he had appeared unannounced at her family's home in El Salvador. The woman, who was not identified by authorities, told investigators that Mondragon had talked his way into the home by saying the gifts were from her. "By the way," Mondragon reportedly asked her parents, "would you mind taking a photo of me with the little girl?" There were no more plans of escaping.

With similar threats, Mondragon and a network of family members and associates operated one of the largest human trafficking rings in U.S. history in which as many as 120 women were held captive and coerced to work off their smuggling debts. Some of the women were raped and forced to have abortions.

Slavery in my backyard and a thousand points of light

RINF Alternative News, 22nd October 2007

rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/slavery-in-my-backyard-and-a-thousand-points-of-light/1538/

[accessed 9 January 2011]

(At the lecture) Coonan also said that it’s happening within the Chinese community as well, with traffickers promising young women a better life in America. According to Coonan, in nearby Quincy, a Chinese restaurant has Hispanic women working there and living in a small shed behind the restaurant. Many of these restaurants also have their employees living in the kitchen after hours as well.

“I think the most shocking thing is that everything is close to home,” said Danielle May, who attended the lecture. “This is not something that you see on the international news being in Cambodia, or Thailand. This issue is happening at home. I think it’s scary. Quincy is 45 minutes away and people are being enslaved. This is shocking that this is 2007 and slavery is still going on.”

Md. Cracks Down On Human Trafficking

wjz.com/seenon/human.trafficking.training.2.430916.html

[access date unavailable]

One who escaped told her story with the condition that she not be identified. "We were kept in one room, me and my daughters," said the woman. Their passports taken, her children were forced to work in the home without pay while she worked on the outside. "We've had a number of significant cases in the Washington suburbs, mostly women, who have been held in basements doing labor at no charge. Domestic labor," said Rod Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for Maryland.

A Modern Slavery

Aubrey Fox, Gotham Gazette, Oct 2007

www.gothamgazette.com/article/crime/20071001/4/2304

[accessed 9 January 2011]

It took 12 years for Martina Okeke to break free. After moving from Nigeria to New York in 1988, she cooked, cleaned and took care of a Staten Island couple's children on the promise of a $300 monthly wage and tuition help for her kids back home. She never received a penny. Friends from Okeke's church finally convinced her to leave the family, but she refused to report them to the authorities. "I did not want to have a bad name," she told a reporter from the New York Times.

In June 2001, two Indonesian women, who paid $3,000 each for a falsified visa, airline tickets from Jakarta and the promise of a well-paying restaurant job in New York, escaped from a Brooklyn brothel. They had arrived in New York only to find that their "debt" had increased to $30,000. The men waiting for them at the airport also threatened to kill them if they refused to work as prostitutes, according to the Brooklyn Rail.

Cary's Neo-China accused of 'human trafficking'

Charles Duncan, Independent Weekly (INDY WEEK), September 26, 2007

www.indyweek.com/indyweek/carys-neo-china-accused-of-human-trafficking/Content?oid=1204142

[accessed 9 January 2011]

According to a lawsuit filed in Wake County court, Neo-China's parent company, Freshco Inc., sponsored Amu Zheng and his wife and son to come to the United States in 2001. Under immigration law, employers can sponsor someone for a green card if they can offer a full-time position. Once in the country, Zheng alleges, Neo-China's owner Diana Yu and manager Chris Chang told Zheng and his family that they had to work at the restaurant "at whatever terms they imposed"—more than 90 hours a week at less than minimum wage.

Human Trafficking: A Million-Dollar Industry In Destin

Patrick Donohue, The Destin Log (Destin, FL), March 18, 2008

www.thedestinlog.com/news/human-192-victims-traffi.html

[accessed 9 January 2011]

She was 19, petite and brunette.  She was from Eastern Europe and had been in the United States for less than a month.  Promised a job as a housekeeper at a hotel or condominium in Okaloosa County, she instead found herself stripping at a local topless bar.  She had to borrow a costume and when she hit the dance floor, she moved without rhythm or style, as if her body and her mind were in two different places.  This isn’t what she came to the United States to do.

Men sentenced to jail for trafficking juvenile

Associated Press AP, St. Louis, September 15, 2007

archive.showmenews.com/2007/Sep/20070915News009.asp

[accessed 9 January 2011]

A St. Louis man was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday in a case in which federal prosecutors have said a child was essentially bought and sold for crack cocaine.

According to statements made in court, Geiler took the girl to Gray’s house in January. He told Gray the girl owed him money, and he wanted to leave her with Gray so she could work as a prostitute to pay off her debt.

Three charged in hair salon human trafficking ring

Brian Donohue, The Star-Ledger, September 06, 2007

blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates/2007/09/three_charged_in_human_traffic.html

[accessed 10 January 2011]

The women lived in crowded apartments rented by the alleged ringleaders in Newark and East Orange, sleeping 8-10 to an apartment and sleeping on tattered mattresses on the floor, Manifase said. Victims told investigators their travel documents were taken from them and they were threatened with return to Africa if they objected to working without pay, authorities said.

Man Pleads Guilty as Trial is About to Begin on Federal Sex Trafficking and Mann Act Charges [PDF]

U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias, Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga, 08/28/07

www.justice.gov/usao/gan/press/2007/08-28-07c.pdf

[accessed 10 January 2011]

Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights; David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Gregory Jones, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Richard Pennington, Chief, Atlanta Police Department, today announced that Jimmie Lee Jones, also known as "Mike Spade," 31, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking and transporting young women across state lines for purposes of prostitution. Just after his trial began, Jones admitted to U.S. District Court Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. that he had lured and coerced eight young women -- including two juveniles -- into prostitution.

"The defendant in this case took advantage of numerous young women by enticing them with promises of modeling contracts and then using force, threats, and coercion to force them to work as prostitutes," said Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim.

AMW Fugitive Data File For Maribel Rodriguez Vasquez

America's Most Wanted AMW, id=47952, April 26, 2008

www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=47952

[accessed 10 January 2011]

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BOGUS JOB OFFER ENTICES GUATEMALAN GIRL TO U.S. - Jane Doe told authorities that after a month of working as a babysitter, Vasquez turned the tables and began forcing her into a life of prostitution.  According to Doe, when she refused to become a sex slave, Vasquez threatened to kill the family she left behind in Guatemala.  Doe also recalled that Vasquez forced her to see a so-called witch doctor who cast spells and foretold bad fortune if she ever tried to escape or told anyone about the prostitution ring.

RP diplomat: No human trafficking in case filed by maid

Veronica Uy, Inquirer.net, Manila, Philippines, 08/25/2007

globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20070825-84654/RP_diplomat:_No_human_trafficking_in_case_filed_by_maid

[accessed 10 January 2011]

According to the Associated Press, under the plea, Reyes must pay Gado about $78,000 to make up the difference between what she was paid and what she was supposed to get under her contract. Gado had claimed she was promised $8 per hour for a 40-hour workweek and $12 an hour for overtime, but was paid $250 a month, pay that was increased to $325 in July 2006 when she was required to begin caring for the Reyeses’ infant granddaughter.

'Slave trade' growth prompts action in FW

Aug 16, 2007

www.kvue.com/news/state/stories/081707kvueslavetrade-eh.4247b468.html

[access date unavailable]

The International Chiefs of Police Association delves into the secret world of human trafficking; and one officer has managed to breach te walls and delve into that world. He is one of few who work in the new Fort Worth Anti-Human Trafficking Division.

"You can buy a human being out on the street for $90 and put him to work as a slave," the undercover said. Women, men, boys and girls are forced into prostitution. Some can end up having sex with different men every 15 minutes while others are purchased to work on farms or restaurants for little to no money.

"Some of them are put to sleep in garages," the officer said. "They're locked up in closets. They're being fed very minimal. Especially, the females are being verbally abused, physically abused."

[more]

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