Human Trafficking – The Trucking Industry – Part 3

Truck stops are uniquely located between towns and cities across our country, and are fertile ground for human trafficking in America, since many people pass through briefly and quickly leave.  With an estimated 5,000 truck stops in the US, traffickers have many opportunities to move across state lines, making it difficult for law enforcement to detect them.  Fortunately, organizations like Truckers Against Trafficking are committed to the prevention of human trafficking at truck stops.

Since my 1^st Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force meeting, where I first learned the story of R. Kelly, I am pleased to report the musician was recently held on $1 million bond by a judge in Cook County, Illinois, who called the allegations of sexual abuse presented by prosecutors “disturbing.”  Prosecutors allege R. Kelly sexually assaulted 3 underage girls over 12 years.  Apparently recordings showing the assaults were made available to the judge.

Charges against another high-profile billionaire, Robert Kraft, brought attention to yet another network of organized human trafficking – massage parlors and day spas.  In addition to owning the New England Patriots, Kraft is invested in a Major League Soccer team and is a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago, the current Southern White House.  According to Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, the young girls and women who are exploited at these facilities “are being treated like cattle” and that “this is the tip of the iceberg.”

More posts to come as I collect information from 1^st hand accounts from survivors.