As Waters Passing By's Journal

Georgia USA: State to focus on human trafficking.
		05:41am 23/04/2006
	State to focus on human trafficking By MARY LOU PICKEL Email: mpickel@ajc.com The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/15/06 A bill awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue's signature and two special task forces set up with funds from the federal government are adding muscle to Georgia's efforts to crack down on human trafficking. Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) says his intent was to cut down on the flow of illegal workers into Georgia. The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act would make human trafficking a felony in Georgia with jail sentences up to 20 years. "The hope was to send a message to coyotes and people who would bring people to Georgia illegally that this is the last state you would bring people to," Rogers said. The bill also goes after pimps who force people into the commercial sex trade. "As a byproduct of this overall immigration legislation, if we can go after those people as well, I'm all for it," Rogers said. Human trafficking is about making money off society's most vulnerable people. Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are brought into the United States each year, according to a State Department report, and between 600,000 and 800,000 are trafficked globally. There is no estimate for the number of Americans who are trafficked, but Fulton County Juvenile Courts alone see 10 to 12 cases per month of minors as young as 9 and 10 years old who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, said Patricia Crone, project director at the Juvenile Justice Fund. As part of Washington's heightened efforts to curb the illegal trade in humans, Atlanta Police and the Cobb County Sheriff's Office have set up anti-human-trafficking task forces with three-year federal grants of $450,000 and $360,838, respectively. As head of the Atlanta Police Department's anti-trafficking unit, Sgt. Donna Chambers is only too well acquainted with the misery of those trapped in this netherworld. She listens day and night to frightened young prostitutes who want to leave their pimps but can't. They tell her they are trapped. "One of the reasons human trafficking is such a big business is they can resell their merchandise over and over again," Chambers said. "With drugs, they sell it once." Chambers' unit hits the streets almost every day, following tips from the police department's vice unit and 911 calls. Any crackdowns on prostitution is welcome news to Yvonne Smith and Flora Tommie, who say prostitution took over their Perkerson Park neighborhood, although it has eased in recent years. Smith reached her breaking point in the summer of 2001 when she went to the park with her kids and ran into a man having sex with a young girl on a bench. "I was so angry to know that people care so little about themselves," Smith said. "We had given up the park to pimps and drugs." Smith, who runs Children's Paradise Academy, made fliers and encouraged volunteers to pick up condoms littering the park. Tommie says officials should do something about the strip clubs and bars close to public schools. Chambers has found that many of her trafficking victims have been sexually abused at an early age and have never recovered. "These are little girls and their lives are pretty much ruined," Chambers said. "When they come into adulthood, they feel like they're less." The cycle won't change until society decides not to penalize what it considers to be "bad victims," said Covenant House Georgia's Alisa Porter. She draws a parallel between tolerance of slavery in the Old South and indifference today toward trafficking victims. Society did not consider black people to be human beings and therefore slavery flourished, Porter said. Today there's not much outcry about trafficking because prostitutes aren't sympathetic victims, she said. "If we don't see sexually exploited children as victims, we don't have the will to change it," Porter said. In Cobb County, Carole Morgan, director of the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy, coordinates a countywide task force for the Cobb County Sheriff's Office that has educated police, service providers and translators about human trafficking. "You've got the dynamics of sexual assault and the dynamics of domestic violence and the dynamics of everything all rolled into one," Morgan said. "The victims are terrified, and in many cases depend on the trafficker." Cobb law enforcement agencies haven't had many trafficking cases yet, Morgan said. That could be because police are still learning how to identify such victims. They are not always easy to find. Take the case of Rosa, who ended up on a South Georgia tomato farm after entering the country illegally from Mexico in 2004. She had paid a coyote $1,600 to smuggle her in, and had hoped to pay off that debt in two months. Instead, after three months of living and working under harsh conditions, she had earned only enough to pay $400 toward her debt. Rosa later escaped with the help of lawyers from Legal Services of Georgia, but she still sent $800 to the coyote who smuggled her into the country and supervised her on the farm. If the governor signs Rogers' legislation into law, as expected, it would enable local police and prosecutors to specifically address trafficking cases and likely increase prosecutions. Victims' advocates say any new tool will likely help cut down on trafficking. Under current Georgia law, prosecutors have to resort to a variety of minor offenses to charge traffickers, including assault and battery and stalking. These are misdemeanors that carry at most a 12-month sentence, said Ann Harris, an assistant district attorney in Cobb County. She helped draft the human trafficking provisions included in the state bill. "Maybe a woman is beat up because she didn't perform — that is battery," Harris said. "And maybe on Wednesday and Thursday one of the women doesn't do what she's supposed to so she's kept in a locked room for two days. That's false imprisonment," Harris said. "Having to prosecute these one at a time, you miss the big picture." Find this article at: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0415mettrafficking.html
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Missouri: St. Louis Makes FBI List For Sexual Exploitation Of Children
		04:26am 23/04/2006
	http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=95256 St. Louis Makes FBI List For Sexual Exploitation Of Children Last updated: 4/14/2006 10:42:33 PM St. Louis finds itself on an FBI list of cities where children are likely to be sexually exploited. 13 other American cities are also on that list. FBI officials say predators are increasingly making their presence known in cities like St. Louis. They are luring naive kids into a life of sex crimes. With darkness comes the grim reality about the streets of St. Louis. They are shelter for homeless include men and women forced to survive, the best they know how. A fast growing homeless population involves runaway children. One of the difficulties in helping children is that they are rarely visible on the streets. Experts say the end result for many children is a life of crime, drugs and sexual exploitation. The FBI says an alarmingly number of kids are being lured into prostitution. Even more frightening is where it's happening. Among the 14 major cities identified by the FBI as sexual exploitation centers-- St. Louis, Chicago and the nation's capital. Michael Meehan is the associate executive director of Epworth. It is a St. Louis area facility where children and teens find hope out of bad situations. The problem is, many kids never make it to get help. Meehan says, "It is not something we as professionals like to think about, but it happens. And that is why we continue to be so vigilant and passionate about what we do because we know the consequence." The FBI says the average age of sex crime victims are 9 and 11 years old. Many come from middle class homes. Estimates suggest more than 100 thousand children are victims of sex trafficking. For now, police focus on finding the predators, while places like Epworth try desperately to find help for potential victims. The FBI says there are many similarities among the 14 sex centers. Among them, adult prostitutes actively recruiting kids.
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California: 3 arrested on child porn, exploitation charges.
		04:14am 23/04/2006
	http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/8704084/detail.html TheKSBWChannel.com 3 Arrested On Child Porn, Exploitation Charges Evidence Of Child Pornography Found In Marina Apartment POSTED: 2:35 pm PDT April 14, 2006 UPDATED: 4:59 pm PDT April 14, 2006 MARINA, Calif. -- Marina police have arrested three men on charges of unlawful sexual exploitation of children. Police said officers went to an apartment on Palm Avenue on April 11 to investigate reports of drug activity. While inside the residence, officers found evidence that marijuana was being grown and also discovered evidence of child pornography. Authorities said officers also learned that two 14-year-old girls were the victim of unlawful sexual exploitation by three men. Arrested were Michael Gruber, 27, Edwin Nath, 26, and Justin Adams, 19. Gruber was arrested on a variety of drug charges, as well as charges related to child pornography. Nath and Adams were also arrested on charges related to child pornography. Adams was also arrested on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Marina police ask that anyone with information that might aid in this investigation call (831) 884-1228. Copyright 2006 by TheKSBWChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritte
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Expert: Porn Industry Paves Way to Sexual Exploitation of Children
		04:04am 23/04/2006
	WASHINGTON, April 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Concerned Women for America's (CWA's) Chief Counsel Jan LaRue has released the first part in her series, "The Road to Perversion Is Paved With Pornography." LaRue explains that "regular guys" don't jump into having sex with kids without taking steps in the wrong direction. "Millions of men and boys are falling for the destructive myth that looking at 'adult' porn is normal, healthy and harmless for 'regular guys,'" according to LaRue. "Way too many are finding themselves handcuffed between two cops, under arrest for sexual conduct with a kid." LaRue addresses the common misconception that pedophiles are the only ones molesting children. "Not every guy who has sex with a minor is a pedophile. Most aren't. There is a difference between pedophiles who prefer to have sex with children and child molesters who prefer to have sex with adults but will have sex with a child if the situation presents itself. And it presents itself big time on the Internet." Men are using online pimps to connect with underage prostitutes. "Check his Web log and you'll find he was at the porn sites long before he went to the pimp sites," LaRue says. LaRue is an expert in pornography law and has covered this issue for 14 years. Read the full report here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/060412a.html
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Kentucky: 2nd exotic dancer accuses suspect of rape
		01:57pm 13/04/2006
	Link. Tuesday, April 11, 2006 2nd exotic dancer accuses suspect of rape Post staff report Independence, Ky., police have filed additional charges against a man accused of raping an exotic dancer after a second woman came forward and said he had tried to do the same to her. Troy A. Schweikert, 33, was charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree rape and terroristic threatening, according to the Independence Police Department, The victim came forward Friday, and said that the crimes happened at Schweikert's home, 549 Bristow Road, Independence, on March 17. She identified Schweikert as the suspect, police said. According to the police, she said that while they were both naked, Schweikert threw her on a bed and tried to have sex with her. He also threatened to hurt her if she reported the crime to the police. Capt. Tony Lucas said customers of the exotic dancers are supposed to keep their clothes on during the striptease, but Schweikert took his off. The victim reported the crime to another police agency the day after it happened, Lucas said, but did so anonymously because she had some warrants outstanding against her for allegedly writing bad checks. When she saw a story about a similar incident involving Schweikert last week, she contacted Independence police, who assured her they would work with her on the bad check charges, Lucas said. Last week, police charged Schweikert with rape and kidnapping in connection with an incident involving another exotic dancer at his home. Schweikert told police he had consensual sex with the woman, but her face was bruised, she was bleeding from the mouth and had neck injuries, Lucas said. Her hair also had been cut. The dancer worked for a business called Naughty Bodies in Batavia. The dancers are supposed to take walkie-talkies inside homes so they can call their driver/bodyguards for help. But the woman left hers in the car accidentally, Lucas said. The dancers try to keep their radios out of their shows as much as possible, he said. The woman broke away from her customer and ran to her waiting car. Schweikert got into a truck and followed them, and the dancer used a cell phone to call 911, Lucas said. Schweikert remained in the Kenton County Detention Center on Monday, Lucas said, where his bond was set at $50,000 cash. He likely will be arraigned on the new charges this morning in Kenton District Court. Copyright 2006, The Post
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Sex Trafficking: The Real Immigration Problem
		12:51pm 12/04/2006
	Sex Trafficking: The Real Immigration Problem by John W. Whitehead 4/10/2006 While debates concerning immigration rage over economics and labor, little has been said about the Mexican women and children being bought and sold as sex slaves. The third largest crime scheme after drug and weapons trafficking, sex traffickers transport at least 18,000 captives into the United States each year. In fact, the U.S. is one of the top destinations for sex traffickers. And trafficking rings have become adept at penetrating U.S. suburban areas. High rates of trafficking are found in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas and Washington, as well as other areas. The southern border of the U.S. is the main thoroughfare for sex trafficking. Girls are smuggled into the U.S. from all over the world through this gateway. But trafficking along this route is not limited to rings based only in Mexico. “Tijuana is a good crossing point because it’s a prostitution zone,” said Melissa Ugarte, a sociologist for EYE, an agency aiding children in crisis in San Diego. “It’s easy to get from Tijuana into Arizona, California, Texas, to New York. It’s simple.” Tijuana, a border town, is a short drive from San Diego. It provides a daily flood of sex-hungry tourists and a police department that looks the other way. Each trafficking ring uses its own route from Tijuana into the U.S. Some drive girls into the U.S. by flashing counterfeit documents at the California border. Other sex slaves are slipped across the border on foot and then shuttled by van to brothels through a network of covert “safehouses” spread across the country. Tightly organized groups of pimps known as “Los Lenones” operate as wholesalers. These pimps collect human merchandise and make deliveries to brothels in thriving sex-trafficking hubs in major U.S. cities. One of the largest trafficking operations is based in San Diego. It was recently uncovered when child welfare officials teamed with county sheriffs and raided one of many houses of prostitution hidden in lower-class neighborhoods. The discoveries shocked these officials to the core. The first thing they saw was a girl no older than 14, dressed in provocative clothing. What moved them was not the girl’s appearance, but the look of sheer terror in her eyes. The girl, whose name is Paola, had been kidnapped from her home in Oaxaca, Mexico, and smuggled into the U.S. as part of an extensive prostitution ring. During her first days in America, Paola had been passed through multiple exploitation camps. Because of her beauty, she became preferred merchandise and day and night had to service long lines of men, both indoors and out. But of the twenty dollars that each “client” paid, Paola received nothing. Housed in squalid conditions, hidden away from the public in innocent-looking neighborhoods, girls like Paola are suffering the darkest form of abuse and exploitation. The sex-trafficking pimps have various ways of procuring these victims. They build an emotional relationship with them; convince the adolescent girl and her family to let her be taken to the U.S. to work; or they kidnap them. The girls are bound to their captors by both emotional and physical bonds and are often told that the pimps will marry them. Desperate to escape from their destitute lives in Mexico, they unknowingly walk into a life of exploitation and terror. Many of the girls have children, and a pimp is usually the father. The children are often snatched from their mothers and kept as hostages. When a girl tries to escape, she is told that her child will be killed. Melissa Ugarte was first introduced to sex trafficking when she met Reyna, a victim of the sex traffickers. When Reyna was rescued, she had a split lip and was covered in bruises. At age 11, Reyna had been given to a local police chief in Puebla, Mexico, by her desperate father. She was raped often and bore a child that she could not support. So when she was offered a job as a servant in the U.S., she had no choice but to leave her child. After being forced to prostitute herself for a week in Tijuana, she was moved to San Diego and into the farm workers’ exploitation camps. Now participating in a program for child victims of exploitation, Reyna has been reunited with her child. She was one of the lucky ones. In the nearby neighborhood of Carlsbad, New Mexico, the tortured bodies of young Mexican girls have begun to appear. Abandoned by their clients and dons, the bodies remain unclaimed because they are presumed to be undocumented. Since they are not reported missing from their hometowns, they remain the nameless victims of abuse. American and Mexican officials are fighting the heartbreaking problem from both ends. However, both supply and demand must be addressed in order for a solution to be reached. Dr. Janice Crouse explains the evil nature of the business: “The demand fuels the industry,” she said. “Unlike drugs which are only usable once, a human being may be sold over and over again, sometimes 30 times a day, to make money. When a victim is used up in one market, he or she can be sold to another pimp, transferred into another area or moved into another aspect of the criminal activity.” Unfortunately, much of the demand comes from within the U.S. Most people who pay for sexual acts are men seeking to “own” a human being, even for just a short while. And while the demand is great, the supply is ever-expanding and always getting younger. Children as young as 11 are forced into the slavery that will break their spirits and, for many, result in death. What can be done? The Bush Administration has acknowledged the human trafficking problem, and President Bush has mentioned the problem in several major speeches, but more has to be done than mere talk. Federal trafficking legislation has only been in place since 2000. It provides stricter penalties for trafficking and gives victims a variety of benefits, including a special temporary visa for three years. The victim can get medical counseling, psychological counseling and emergency shelter. However, the catch is that the victim must testify against her traffickerssomething that most girls, out of fear, will not do. Stricter control of the Mexican-American border would reduce the volume of human cargo. Raising awareness of the issue at the local and federal government levels could result in a reduction of the facelessness of the crime, as well as encourage local law enforcement to take on the issue. Moreover, pressure must be placed on the federal government to protect and aid the victims of trafficking without penalty. These women and children are not prostitutes. They are victims of human rights abuses and must be treated as such. Otherwise, all of the clamor over illegal immigration in the U.S. is nothing more than political hot air.
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California: Nanny to be tried on 3 child abuse counts
		03:57pm 06/04/2006
	http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/04/BAG6MI2PCP1.DTL
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Arizona: Too many sad tales of child abuse go unnoticed
		03:50pm 06/04/2006
	http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0405roberts0405.html
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U.S. official in child abuse sting.
		03:40pm 06/04/2006
	http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4882068.stm
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North Carolina: Forum targets 'crisis of silence'
		11:26am 06/04/2006
	http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/425429.html Forum targets 'crisis of silence' Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove, Staff Writer When psychiatrist Linnea Smith and others began organizing a conference on sex trafficking two years ago, they decided to put the words "Breaking the Crisis of Silence" in the title because few people realized such human exploitation was happening in North Carolina. "There's denial or victim blaming and denial," Smith said. "This is something that happens in third-world developing impoverished countries, but it doesn't happen in Raleigh." But the two years of conference planning and arrests involving alleged sex trafficking have already increased attention to the subject, she said. In October, three Raleigh residents faced federal charges after law enforcement officials said they brought women from New York, New Jersey and Maryland into the state, and recruited North Carolinians as young as 14, to work at three brothels. What has come out of the collaboration with UNC-Chapel Hill, the Carolina Women's Center and other agencies is a two-day international conference starting Friday at the Radisson Hotel in Research Triangle Park. The conference will focus on international efforts to stop human trafficking, federal services provided to trafficking victims, the demand for sex tourism and other sexual exploitation, and identifying trafficking victims. Statistics vary on how many people are brought by threat or force into the United States every year and exploited for labor or sex. The U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report for 2005 estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 are brought in annually. An estimated 80 percent of trafficking victims are women and children, mostly brought for sexual exploitation. Part of the conference will explore how North Carolina could help law enforcement agencies recognize sex trafficking situations and help victims receive services instead of being deported. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, who plans to attend, is interested in model legislation two UNC School of Law students are putting together as part of a Human Rights and Policy Clinic in their last year. "If there's a state law, it's more likely that state and local officials will be familiar with the topic," said Hannah Little, one of the law students. The state also could fill in the gap for victims who don't meet the strict federal standard to be considered a victim of trafficking, she added. The federal government enacted a Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000. It gives victims the opportunity to receive visas to stay in the country and receive aid. "In particular, we're looking at how to make sure victims are provided services, and how to make sure that they have the best possible chance of being properly assessed for the trafficking visa that they may be eligible for," said Deborah Weissman, professor of law and director of clinical programs. "We're actually right now trying to put together what would be a model team to see if we can put together one case," she said. IF YOU GO The conference will take place 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The fee, which includes meals, is $60 for non-students and $25 for college students. Scholarships are available for students. More information can be found at http://womenscenter.unc.edu/trafficking/ or by calling 962-2643 or (800) 845-8640. Staff writer Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove can be reached at 932-2005 or cheryl.sadgrove@newsobserver.com.
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Experts see growing internet pornography threat
		01:37am 06/04/2006
	http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-04-04-voa83.cfm
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Florida: Homeland official arrested in online sex sting
		01:30am 06/04/2006
	MSNBC.com Homeland official arrested in online sex sting Agency's deputy press secretary held for soliciting for a child on Internet BREAKING NEWS The Associated Press Updated: 11:06 p.m. ET April 4, 2006 MIAMI - The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he thought was a teenage girl, authorities said. Brian J. Doyle, 55, was arrested at his residence in Maryland on charges of use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of harmful material to a minor. The charges were issued out of Polk County, Fla. Doyle, of Silver Spring, Md., had a sexually explicit conversation with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl whose profile he saw on the Internet on March 14, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The girl was an undercover Polk County Sheriff's Computer Crimes detective, the sheriff's office said. Doyle sent the girl pornographic movie clips and had sexually explicit conversations via the Internet, the statement said. Used government cell phone During other online conversations, Doyle revealed his name, that he worked for the Homeland Security Department and offered his office and government issued cell phone numbers, the sheriff's office said. Doyle also sent photos of himself to the girl, but authorities said they were not sexually explicit. On several occasions, Doyle instructed her to perform a sexual act while thinking of him and described explicit activities he wanted to have with her, investigators said. Doyle later had a telephone conversation with an undercover deputy posing as the teenager and encouraged her to purchase a web camera to send graphic images of herself to him, the sheriff's office said. He was booked into Maryland's Montgomery County jail where he was waiting to be extradited to Florida, the sheriff's office said. There was no immediate response to messages left on Doyle's government-issued cell phone and his e-mail, and he could not be reached by phone at the jail for comment. Agency `will cooperate fully' Homeland Security press secretary Russ Knocke in Washington said he could not comment on the details of the investigation. "We take these allegations very seriously, and we will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation," Knocke said. Doyle, who is the fourth-ranking official in the department's public affairs office, was expected to be placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning. "We will go after child predators, no matter where they live, to protect our innocent children," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, in a statement from his office. "This investigation shows that the long arm of the law can reach anyone, anywhere, anytime, who tries to harm our youth," Judd said. "There is no question that Doyle believed that he was having these disgusting, obscene discussions, online and on the phone, with a young girl. His conduct is vile and inexcusable." This breaking story will be updated. © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. © 2006 MSNBC.com URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12159118/from/ET/
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Michigan: Pimp gets 25 years for kidnap, sex crimes
		01:25am 06/04/2006
	Pimp gets 25 years for kidnap, sex crimes Ex-Toledoan forced teen into prostitution By ROBIN ERB BLADE STAFF WRITER Toledo Blade DETROIT - The voice of an Adrian teenager - who four years ago was raped, held captive, and forced to prostitute herself - filled a still federal courtroom in Detroit yesterday shortly before the man convicted as her captor and pimp was sentenced to a quarter-century behind bars. "It ... makes me sick how you treated me. ... How can you sleep at night?" asked the 18-year-old woman, whom The Blade is identifying as "Marie." Only once did her voice waver, as she spoke of the "shame and embarrassment" after finding out she contracted hepatitis C, a disease that can be transmitted sexually, and her fear of one day passing the disease to her children. She said she continues to have hearing problems from the time Clarence Brown, now 33, battered her. Sitting at a nearby table with his attorney, Brown didn't move. Following a five-day trial last year, Brown was convicted of kidnapping the teenager and forcing her to prostitute herself for several days at an Indiana truck stop in 2001. Holly Hollis, a 22-year-old hooker at the time of the ordeal, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking in children and is serving a nearly four-year sentence for her part in "training" the teenager. U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Tarnow offered Brown the chance to speak, and Brown briefly complained that he had an inadequate attorney. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" Judge Tarnow asked. "Just that I'm innocent of these charges," Brown responded. Judge Tarnow sentenced the former Toledoan to 25 years in prison for three convictions, including sex trafficking of children. "This is one of the heaviest sentences I've ever imposed, certainly the heaviest where there hasn't been a killing," said Judge Tarnow, who has been a federal judge for nearly seven years. "To a certain extent, this is just as serious. The victim will never be able to enjoy her life the way she would have." The girl left her home in Adrian, where she lived with her grandmother, in November, 2001, to celebrate her upcoming 14th birthday with a 19-year-old boyfriend - a man her grandmother did not know about. Marie lied, telling her grandmother she was going out with a friend. But over the next few days, while her grandmother filed a police report and searched for her, Marie and the man traveled to several houses around the Toledo and Ypsilanti areas. He assured the increasingly nervous Marie that she would be taken home soon. They met Brown and Holly Hollis, and eventually, Marie and her boyfriend fought. He abandoned her with Brown and Hollis, who refused to take her home and informed the teenager she was in "whore training." Brown brutalized both women, raped Marie, and forced her to work at a truck stop near Fort Wayne, Ind. Ten days after she left home, she was alone with a trucker, who helped the teenager escape. Norm Robiner, Brown's attorney, reminded the judge yesterday that the girl, once away from his client, didn't immediately call 911, but rode through several states with the trucker before calling home. But Judge Tarnow admonished that the crime was not a momentary lapse of judgment. "This wasn't just go in and rob and bank or go in and do this bad thing or this bad thing. This went on for a period of time," he said. Judge Tarnow also advised Brown about the rights to an appeal. But the judge warned Brown that, even though the guilty verdict came from a jury, "I would have come to the same conclusion." Contact Robin Erb at: robinerb@theblade.com or 419-724-6133.
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Georgia (USA): Sex tourism thriving in Bible Belt

01:13am 06/04/2006

music: Peter Gabriel - Red Rain

Sex tourism thriving in Bible Belt

Tue Apr 4, 2006 10:01 AM ET
By Verna Gates and Mickey Goodman

> ATLANTA (Reuters) - In a sleazy hotel room,
> "Brittany," then aged 16 and drugged into oblivion,
> waited for the men to arrive. Her pimps sent as many
> as 17 clients an evening through the door.
>
> A "john" could even pre-book the pretty young
> blonde for $1,000 a night, sometimes flying in and
> then flying out from a nearby airport.
>
> None of this happened in Bangkok or Costa
> Rica, places that have become synonymous with sex
> tourism and underage sex.
>
> It took place in Atlanta, the buckle of the
> U.S. Bible Belt, where the world's busiest passenger
> airport provides a cheaper, more convenient and
> safer underage sex destination for men seeking girls
> as young as 10.
>
> "Men fly in, are met by pimps, have sex with a
> 14-year-old for lunch, and get home in time for
> dinner with the family," said Sanford Jones, the
> chief juvenile judge of Fulton County, Georgia.
>
> A new federal law passed in 2003 ensures that
> American sex tourists landing on foreign soil and
> hiring prostitutes under the age of 18 can get 30
> years in prison.
>
> But in Georgia, punishment for pimping or
> soliciting sex with a girl under 18 is only five to
> 20 years, according to Deborah Espy, the Deputy
> District Attorney of Fulton County.
>
> "Men are coming to Atlanta to have sex with a
> child," said LaKendra Baker, project manager for the
> Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation
> (CEASE).
>
> Half of the street-level prostitutes in
> Atlanta are believed to be under 18, according to
> experts.
>
> Others are booked through Internet sex sites
> and from social sites like Black Planet, where girls
> innocently post profiles, said Baker.
>
> Just in March, police arrested a Canadian man
> meeting a 14-year-old girl he found through the
> Internet, said Cathey Steinberg, executive director
> of the Juvenile Justice Fund, which funds treatment
> for abused girls and prevention.
>
> Another man drove from North Georgia, with a
> bag containing a teddy bear, a love note and
> condoms, snorting methamphetamine on the way.
>
> He expected a 13-year-old girl, but instead
> found Heather Lackey, a corporal with the Peachtree
> City Police Department.
>
> "People are stunned that Atlanta's the No. 1
> sex center in the country," said Steinberg.
>
> The FBI has identified 14 U.S. cities as
> centers for the sexual exploitation of children. In
> addition to Atlanta, they are Chicago, Dallas,
> Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis,
> New York, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis,
> Tampa, and Washington, D.C.
>
> RUNAWAYS AT MOST RISK
>
> In all, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000
> underage girls are prostituted in the United States,
> according to a University of Pennsylvania study.
>
> Most youths caught up in the sex trade are
> runaways, like Brittany, whose 19-year-old
> "rescuers" soon demanded a return on their
> investment.
>
> "I didn't have any place to go. My mom hated
> me for what I was doing to the family," said
> Brittany, who did not want to be identified by her
> real name.
>
> Up to 90 percent of runaways are believed to
> end up as prostitutes, with a third lured into
> prostitution within 48 hours. Some are sold into
> sexual slavery by their parents, according to a 2005
> study by the Atlanta Women's Agenda.
>
> Some get seduced by recruiters. Pimps use
> handsome young men and sometimes girls as fronts.
>
> "A 16-year-old controlling a group of girls
> will not face the same penalties an adult would
> receive," said Patricia Crone, director of the
> Office of Juvenile Justice Demonstration Project.
>
> Once snagged, the grooming process begins.
> Typically, the pimp's friends sleep with her, then
> come threats, beatings and gang rapes. Caresses and
> gifts, including drugs and alcohol, follow abuse,
> the Atlanta Women's Agenda study found.
>
> Brittany said she was showered with fancy
> dinners, clothes and methamphetamine. But she also
> describes horror. "It made me feel dirty. It was
> demeaning," said Brittany.
>
> The sex slaves are trafficked in and out of
> cities to supply sporting events, conventions or rap
> concerts.
>
> During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, one man
> kept boys and hosted sex parties nightly, said Baker
> of the group CEASE.
>
> The pimps even held an annual "Player's Ball"
> in Atlanta in 2003, openly buying and selling women
> and naming a "Player of the Year," according to the
> Atlanta Women's Agenda study.
>
> The risks are worth it. While there are few
> reliable statistics, child sexual exploitation is
> believed to be the world's third-biggest money maker
> for organized crime, said Stephanie Davis, policy
> adviser to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
>
> One reason for the demand is the false
> assumption that youths are disease-free.
>
> On the contrary, with tissues not fully
> developed, they are more prone to lacerations. HIV
> infections among females aged 16 to 21 are 50
> percent higher than for men, a 1998 study in the
> Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
> reported.
>
> Atlanta has won two new federal grants to
> establish units to fight the trafficking of underage
> sex slaves and to hire more undercover detectives,
> said Carole Morgan, director of the North Central
> Georgia Law Enforcement Academy.
>
> But the experts fear that may not be enough.
>
> "It won't stop until people say, 'My city
> isn't safe for kids anymore,'" said Crone.
>
> "This is a place where you can buy, sell or
> rent kids. It must be stopped."

Post

Utah/Arizona: Calling Jeffs 'out of control', nephew repeats abuse claims.
		10:03pm 15/12/2005
	http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3310495
		Post

New Zealand: Man fined for spreading child abuse images.
		09:56pm 15/12/2005
	http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3511745a11,00.html Man fined for spreading child abuse images 14 December 2005 The conviction of a Masterton man for collecting and distributing child abuse images over the internet is a warning to those who do so, Department of Internal Affairs Deputy Secretary Andrew Secker said yesterday. James Walter Hooper, 42, a beneficiary, was fined a total of $2100 in Masterton District Court for possessing and distributing images of children being sexually abused. He had pleaded guilty to 15 charges of possessing an objectionable publication, but contested two charges of distribution. Hooper was convicted on all 17 charges and also ordered to pay costs. An order was made for the destruction of the images. Mr Secker said Parliament had toughened the law this year and introduced much stiffer penalties - up to 10 years jail for distribution and copying crimes and up to five years for possession. He said traffickers in child pornography - which exists only through the abuse of children - "must realise that we can find them". Department of Internal Affairs inspectors tracked Hooper down through an internet service provider after an overseas tip-off that a "Mr Smith" was using file sharing application Kazaa. Advertisement Advertisement They seized a computer, video recordings and CD-Roms from Hooper's home.
		Post

Australia: More child abuse reported.
		09:51pm 15/12/2005
	http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17566026-29279,00.html
		Post

Australia: Arrest over attempted abduction
		03:37pm 24/11/2005
	Click to read
		Post

Australia: Action urged on domestic violence
		03:32pm 24/11/2005
	Click to read source Action urged on domestic violence 25nov05 LABOR is calling on the Federal Government to do more to help women and children escape violent relationships. The calls coincides with White Ribbon Day activities around the country today to highlight the anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Labor's spokeswoman on women's issues Tanya Plibersek called on the Government to set up a national plan, in consultation with the states, to combat violence against women. She also called on the Government to properly fund emergency accommodation for women and children escaping violent relationships. "Community support, alarming statistics and huge losses to the economy prove just how out of touch the Howard government is with Australian society," Ms Plibersek said.
		Post

WHO says domestic violence against women is widespread
		03:26pm 24/11/2005
	http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-24-voa31.cfm
		Post

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Friends Info Calendar As Waters Passing By: Resources for Survivors of Abuse

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