Saturday, June 7, 2014

MAKING HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING REAL: SAW A YOUNG GIRL AT THE POV, MISSOULA, MT, YESTERDAY, A BIT TOO SKIMPY DRESSED FOR THE WEATHER, INJURED ARM, OUT OF PLACE--BUT WHAT CAN I DO? FORMER CLIENT/FRIEND, OLDEST DAUGHTER, BARELY 17 JUST GOT RESCUED FROM PHEONIX, RUNAWAY, EASY TO PUT INTO SEX SLAVERY--GUY, 21, JAILED FOR METH AND FORMER CHARGES WITH MINORS--WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN ON THE HORIZON?

17 YEAR OLD RUNS AWAY WITH 21 YEAR OLD!

Just a few weeks ago, my former client/friend in Utah, called hysterical and crying, her 17 year old, whom she allowed to have her 21 year old boyfriend stay in the house, to protect her very rebellious daughter, and keep an eye on her, told me the two had stolen a car and were gone . . . I have known this young little hottie since she was 14; she had wanted to reconnect with her father, who raped her, and was sent to prison, single mother, oldest of 7 children and mother's right hand, to the point of using her, I felt.  I have coached her through the rape, but seen her fall, in her mind, totally in love with several boys, who can almost feel her insecurity, and either try to help her, or try to take advantage of her . . . but she is totally in love with them, and she is going to marry them, they are the one, and there is no doubt about it!

The 21 year old, now in jail, luckily . . . is no different, she is smitten by him!  This combination is a perfect combination or cluster of elements that would put her the perfect target for this older predator, who has a history of hanging out with younger girls.  You have several elements that are on the lists provided by cops, victim advocates, and attorneys, at the Montana Human Trafficking Seminar, I just blogged about, and I passed on the information to a friend to inform them, so I will have to got from memory, but:
  • this girl started failing school, and the more behind she got, the more she resisted going
  • mom needed help with other children, and often let her miss school, so she could help with other children
  • she would get a boyfriend, and he was the one and only, immediately, even though I would tell her to set her goals on college, and that she would have many more boyfriends before she even graduated from high school, trying to keep future goals out in front of her face
  • mom, out of frustration has allowed her to go from home to home, friends, family, grandmother, etc., so she has made school even harder, instability
  • she looks a lot like Taylor Swift, the country singer, so the promise of a future in music might entice her
  • I think this guy was going to be her knight in shining armor, and take her away from her situation, so she can be free from school, home, babysitting other kids, just get away, escape
  • mom doesn't like this 21 year old boyfriend, but she wants to stay close to her daughter--so now we have a buddy to hang out with when we don't go to school
  • boyfriend undermining what the mother is trying to do with her daughter, breeding ground for an escape . . . he was on meth, so he may have had money for selling it on the streets
  • eventually the two runaway, she on a romantic adventure, he, possibly, has motives of using her as another stream of income, once he gets her away from mom, and her familiar surroundings, vulnerable and reliant on him to take care of her, in a big city, Phoenix, so they can disappear in a crowd
  • partners, are big time, catalysts to get girls into sex trade, porn, labor, and human trafficking

Stubborn Pride Aside, This May Come Out Positive

Luckily, this story had a, at least for the time being, happy ending.  Hopefully, the kid will be kept in jail long enough for her to get on with her life, and set up a new life.  Again, as providence would have it, two of her younger sisters, equally beautiful, who have been staying with grandma and pa, in another part of the state, will be there at home for the summer, and the 17 year old will have a better, more fun support system.  The family and kids are incredibly close, so that is good.  

I told her mother to sit all three girls down and go through the list of traits, reasons, possible johns, pimps and partners that might get them into a mess like she almost found herself in!  She at least sounds better than she did right after she got back, and was asking me how long I thought her boyfriend would be in jail . . . I told her it could be years, and if she really thought he was the one, kept insisting he was different, and she loved him and he her, that she should get a job, try to work on getting an apartment, and getting a stable environment, so when he got out, they would have something together . . . there was not talking her out of this guy!

Filling Gaps in a Young Person's Life

When I talked to her for a bit, on the phone, she always wants to talk me  . . . we have a great relationship, I love her and she me, and she will listen to me, almost came up to see me, with boyfriend, but this is a service people in the community, church, neighborhood, the system or anyone who sees a family struggling can do, befriend the girl or boy, who is likely to become a victim of human trafficking, give them a safe place, a listening ear, a rational voice, that may be more than they are willing to do or listen to their parents at this time of their very vulnerable life!  It simply takes a village to raise a child . . . me there for these at risk kids, you may save the from misery beyond description, to the point of torture and possibly murder!

Encourage the 7 choices that make people happy, give them options, alternatives to a possibly hopeless future, another alternative our route out of their current situation, she wants me to come visit or come up to Montana a visit me . . . give them something to live for, to hope for, goals, a new life, anything, but human trafficking and turning to some guy to allegedly solve their problems for them.  I always tell her how cute she is, pretty, smart, and try to feed her what she so desperately wants, acceptance . . . if you are someone, these kids look up to, jump in a support a mother or father, or both, we can actually be saviors of our fellow men, women and children!  DO IT!

A System With Heart

If there are gaps in family structures, encourage you children to seek surrogates, be it parents, males, females, brothers and sisters, grandparents, many children and young people survive because someone just simply cares.  Last summer, while in Helena, Montana, I attended a functions sponsored by the Democrats, who had a judge come talk to the group, I believe he was a juvenile court judge, and he made a very poignant statement . . . these kids that I see in the system, were not raised as fortunately as many of us in this room, and he said, he was always shocked that these kids survived, maybe even thrived, because he knew many of their parents, and given their backgrounds, they were actually doing amazing, in comparison to their upbringing.  I loved the fact that he referred to himself, when dealing with families and kids, as Grandpa, rather than Judge . . . I didn't know if he was the guys, Pat Shea, who was just appointed by Governor Bullock, as the newest justice for the Montana Supreme Court, but he would have had my vote!

The second young woman, I saw at the Poverello, Homeless Shelter, Missoula, MT . . . she was very young, most of the people there are Vets, or much older, so why she was there, was a mystery and while I noticed that she could have very easily been a victim of human trafficking or a runaway with few options . . . she was fresh meat, that was so vulnerable, young, innocent, and she could be easy prey, and the next meal ticket for some guy, scary and didn't look good for her . . . now, while I know the signs, I wasn't sure of her situation, and I was hoping that the staff at the Pov, most of them being either trained as social workers, or working with juveniles, I was hoping they were on the case and knew what her situation was or is.

She was a tougher call, and I had no interaction with the girl, and she didn't look like she wanted any, and I respect that, she has to talk to the Pov staff to stay there, so I knew she had to have some contact with someone.  Just a reminder to prosecutors, these girls are taken against their will, often, or enticed by love, affection, promises, money, escape, and didn't count on what they got . . . charging them with prostitution, is not going to help the situation out.  I was glad to see, newly elected, Kirsten Pabst, Missoula County Attorney, say, that they were going to have more compassion in the system, something they had been missing . .  I knew I liked you!

A Plea & Admonishment to Men--Stop Buying Sex With Young Girls--For Both the Females Protection and Your Own; Two College Personnel at Southern Utah University, Got Caught in a Sting Op by Cops, Setting Up Men on Craigslist With Minors--Curiosity Got the Cat . . . Made Their Lives Hell!

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