Several years back, Woodland police moved in and “arrested” a young girl selling fruit on the roadside.
Underage, the girl had been brought from the Central Valley and left at an intersection with only a mobile phone and dozens of crates of produce.
Less than three months ago, five men were arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution by Woodland police and District Attorney’s Office as part of a sting where they responded to a fictitious ad.
Welcome to the world of human trafficking, where things are not what they seem, where the warning signs can be subtle, but knowing what to look for can be life-saving.
That’s why local police, acting with the DA’s Office and Empower Yolo are holding a free Human Trafficking seminar from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday at the Woodland Community & Senior Center.
Held in recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the effort is meant to provide education and awareness about child sexual exploitation. Topics will include social media dangers, missing and runaway children, general overview of child sexual exploitation and how youth can keep themselves safe from being exploited and how parents can keep their kids safe.
Wednesday’s event will feature a guest speaker from 3Strands Global and a panel of advocates from Empower Yolo and law enforcement along with staff from the DA’s Office to talk about what is happening to combat this type of insidious crime.
While most people are familiar with sex trafficking, they may not realize that trafficking can take varied forms, from labor exploitation to domestic servitude, with victims in the restaurant industry, sweatshop factories and migrant agricultural field, among others.
Residential cleaning service companies are one such example. If the manager of such businesses opts to drop off maids at the residence as opposed to allowing them to drive themselves, that can be a potential red flag.
Other signs to look out for include an individual that appears to be shadowed by someone or receives repeated calls from someone they purport to be a boyfriend, who has rehearsed answers when spoken to or doesn’t appear to be in control of their own money, passport, ID or license.
It is also important to look for signs of poor mental health. For example, someone who appears nervous or paranoid, malnourished and exhausted, or is fearful of receiving help from law enforcement. Tattoos and scarring or signs of physical abuse are other telltale signs.
Advancements have been made on the state level recently to address human trafficking. One of the more significant ones is a state mandate to teach about human trafficking in public schools as part of the California Healthy Youth Act, a law that made comprehensive sexuality education mandatory for all middle school and high school students. Educators are now teaching their students what human trafficking looks like and signs to watch out for.
The Wednesday seminar will dovetail in part with a event held last September by Woodland police where FBI Special Agent Scott Schoefield, an expert in cybersecurity and child sex crimes, spoke to parents and teens about how they should be careful when using the Internet and social media.
While only in his 30s, Schofield frequents chat rooms and other sites often portraying young girls and boys and used that as an illustration that people should know with absolute certainty who they are communicating with when online.
The dangers of human trafficking — which can originate with child exploitation — can be seen in the men arrested and charged for solicitation of prostitution. Teens are roped into doing something they normally would never do and then controlled either through drugs or fear.
In the case of the underage girl selling produce, she was left without access to a bathroom and all the money she made had to be turned over to her boss. Basically, according to police, that made her a slave.
“Prostitution and sex trafficking is a pervasive industry that especially exploits women and children,” stated Police Sgt. Dallas Hyde when the men were arrested. “In this illicit trade, women and children are often coerced to live in dangerous and violent conditions.
“Although viewed as a victimless crime by some, the sex-trafficking industry subjects women and children to a cycle of trauma and degradation that can permanently impact them and their families,” he said.
It only takes a few clicks of the mouse on a computer to bring a Yoloan in contact with a person offering sex for money. A few clicks more can land that same resident in serious trouble.
At the District Attorney’s Office Chief Investigator John Ehrk and Deputy District Attorney Investigator Jennifer Davis monitor online advertisements from dubious websites. The pair has been spearheading Yolo County’s recent efforts to quell the local sex trafficking trade, which alive and well in Yolo’s local cities.
“A lot of people don’t think it’s happening here,” Davis said.
Last May, the pair presented talked about their work to Yolo County supervisors and presented a general update on the Human Trafficking Unit.
“It’s essentially modern-day slavery,” Ehrk told supervisors. “Sacramento ranks within the top three cities in the nation for trafficking.”
He said the traffic flow relies on Sacramento’s hub-like connection of several major routes, including I-5 and I-80. Located within the same hub, Woodland, Davis and West Sacramento see the same commerce.
The area matches a nationwide trend, Davis told supervisors. According to the National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, the nation experiences 1.6 million juvenile runaways per year with roughly one third of those individuals “recruited” by a pimp within 48 hours. The average age of these runaways is 12 years old.
Davis said pimps take care to protect their industry, and often “move product” around to avoid being tracked. It also ensures that girls and boys won’t be able to stay long enough to make connections or stray too far. Some of the girls in Yolo County’s courts can’t even recall some locations of their time in the trade.
Daily Democrat writer Hans Peter and The Democrat’s sister paper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, contributed to this story.
