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Please Donate to the NAHT on Giving Tuesday, December 2

Early next month, on December 2, it will be Giving Tuesday. This is our once-a-year solicitation of our blog/newsletter supporters. Also, December 1 is International Day for the Abolishment of Slavery. Please consider honoring this global day as a further motivation for supporting Iowa’s only statewide non-profit fighting human trafficking.

This year, on this global day of giving, we’re hoping to raise $7,500. Money raised will be used to help the NAHT highlight the crime of human trafficking during the celebration of January 2026 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month. The highlight event will take place on Thursday, January 22 at 11:30 a.m. at the Iowa State Capitol Building. Tap here for a save-the-date flyer.

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday, please join us in the spirit of non-profit giving to end human trafficking in Iowa.

Ways you can get ready for Giving Tuesday

  • Scan the QR code and give now. You don’t need to wait until December 2. We will count the gift towards our Giving Tuesday campaign goal of $7,500 and send you a thank-you letter.
  • Or, make your donation online at https://iowanaht.org/donate-now.
  • Or, mail a check to: Iowa NAHT, 5508 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014.

Iowa City Police Make Three Arrests Following Multi-Agency Human Trafficking Operation

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, the Iowa City Police Department (ICPD) made three arrests following a human trafficking investigation involving two massage parlors. The arrests were the culmination of a joint operation involving ICPD and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) – Operation Safe Passage.

The investigation found Zhenshi Liu, 60, and Junping Ren, 56, both of Iowa City, operated two illicit massage parlors in Iowa City:

  • Paradise Spa, 1901 Broadway St., Suite 2
  • Paradise Spa, 805 S. First Ave., Suite 3

Zhenshi Liu and Junping Ren employed numerous female workers inside the massage parlors. Interviews with numerous male clients of the parlors found that the female workers, who were required to work more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week, provided sex acts to the clients. Zhenshi Liu and Junping Ren are also accused of providing sex acts to clients. During the investigative period, a sexual assault in which Zhenshi Liu allegedly sexually assaulted a customer against their will was also reported. In addition, Zhenshi Liu and Junping Ren are accused of laundering $2.6 million in cash proceeds obtained from their operation through the purchase of two residential properties. The couple’s son, Yang Liu, 33, of Hoover, Ala., is accused of assisting in laundering $1.5 million through his personal accounts.

As a result of this operation, all three individuals have been arrested and face the following charges:

ICPD and DCI were assisted in serving multiple warrants in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids by the Johnson County Joint Emergency Communication Center, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, Cedar Rapids Police Department, Des Moines Police Department, University of Iowa Police Department, Coralville Police Department, Altoona Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office. Local advocacy agencies were also used to provide assistance and will continue to work with the victims in this investigation.

The Johnson County Attorney’s Office assisted throughout the investigation. Pending initial appearances, all three defendants will each be held on cash or surety bonds in the amount of $125,000. A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and all persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Polaris Project Loses National Hotline Federal Contract

For the past 18 years, Polaris Project has run the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it will turn this responsibility over to Compass Connections – “a leader in managing complex hotline systems across local, state, and federal levels.”

With a grant of up to $35 million over five years, the Federal Administration for Children and Families says “This new investment positions the Hotline to improve responsiveness to crisis calls, texts, and chats, while strengthening coordination with survivor advocates, service providers, child welfare agencies, and law enforcement to ensure children and adults who experience trafficking receive the support they need.

With this award, the Hotline recipient will:

  • Ensure no lapse in services during the transition, guided by a detailed handoff plan
  • Prioritize calls from individuals in immediate danger, actively experiencing trafficking, or minors at risk of abuse or neglect
  • Strengthen collaboration through a new law enforcement engagement plan developed in consultation with survivors
  • Expand capacity to respond to calls, texts, chats, and emails 24/7 in more than 200 languages

As an example of how difficult exact data is to obtain in the area of human trafficking, Polaris sent a brief email announcing that the government had chosen a new provider. They said that “Since 2007, Polaris has responded to more than 460,000 calls, texts, and chats, uncovered more than 112,000 trafficking cases, and helped identify more than 218,000 victims and survivors.” The DHHS announcement said “Since its launch, the Hotline has received nearly 1.5 million contacts, identified over 115,000 potential trafficking situations, and connected thousands of survivors to safety, case management, counseling, and law enforcement support.” The full DHHS announcement can be found here.

Iowa Man Sentenced to over 24 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Destruction of Evidence

A man who attempted to solicit a minor to engage in prostitution was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison. Joshua Johnson, 50, of Cedar Rapids, received the sentence after a jury verdict found him guilty of attempted sex trafficking of a child and destruction of evidence. The evidence at trial showed that Johnson responded to an ad on a website for prostitution. He exchanged text messages with a person who stated that she was 13 years old; she actually was an undercover law enforcement officer.  Johnson sent messages describing sex acts he could perform with the minor, and he traveled to Hiawatha, Iowa, to meet with her. After meeting with officers, Johnson wiped his cell phone.

Johnson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the 292 month prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District, Mark Tremmel, and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Hiawatha Police Department.

Epstein/Maxwell Survivors Deserve Justice

Courtesy of The National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Over 1,000 victims were abused at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

And what are our leaders doing to hold them accountable?

  • An interview with elementary-level questioning by a Justice Department official, which was clearly nothing more than an attempt to ease public outrage, rather than pursue justice.
  • Moved Maxwell, the primary facilitator of the abuse, from a maximum-security prison to a much lower security prison, some have described as comparable to a “camp.”
  • Provided no transparent accountability for the sex buyers who abused these young women and children.

This kind of behavior leaves survivors feeling forgotten. As though the most traumatic moments of their lives are not worthy of justice.

National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) Survivor Services Coordinator, Teresa J. Helm, who is herself a survivor of abuse by Epstein and Maxwell, has been pioneering this fight for survivor justice. She describes the pain that stays with her, years later, “This woman changed the entire trajectory of my life,” said Helm, in reference to Maxwell. “She changed something within me that I will never get back.”

Helm recently spoke at a bipartisan rally in Washington, D.C., where Epstein survivors came together to demand justice.

But the trauma that Epstein and Maxwell survivors have experienced has been continuously discounted by both a justice system that has not pursued accountability and the media, focusing on sensationalism instead of survivor voices.

Support for the Epstein Files Transition Act

Courtesy of World Without Exploitation

There has never been a more urgent time to stand with survivors. On September 3, World Without Exploitation hosted a rally on Capitol Hill to urge Congress to release all of the Epstein files.

Since then, we have been working with survivors to keep the pressure on. But we cannot do it alone. While it appears we are at the requisite 218 votes to bring the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act to the House floor, every day there is a new attempt to block the vote.

That’s why we need your support NOW! Please join us in taking action. The way is simple. Click the “Take Action” button on this website and call your member of Congress.

Survivors have been clear — this is not about politics, this is personal. Let’s help survivors get the long overdue justice they deserve.

Urge Iowa Congresspeople to Support the Epstein Files Transparency Act!

The Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R.4405/S.2557) is proposed legislation aimed at ensuring full public disclosure of all government-held records, investigative files, and court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, his associates, and his criminal network. This includes unsealing names, evidence, testimonies, and materials currently kept confidential due to sealed court proceedings or redacted investigations. The Act is grounded in the principles of accountability, transparency, and justice—particularly for the survivors of Epstein’s trafficking enterprise and the broader public interest in exposing systemic failures that allowed such abuse to persist for decades.

By mandating the release of these files—while safeguarding the privacy of survivors—the legislation seeks to shed light on the enablers, co-conspirators, and institutional protections that allowed Epstein’s operation to flourish. It aims to close loopholes that obstruct justice and ensure that no one, regardless of wealth or power, is above the law.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act is not just about the past—it’s about preventing future exploitation. The truth and transparency are essential tools in the fight to end human trafficking. Tap here to learn more about how to send an email to Congress.

U.S Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report Finally Available

Late last month, 26 members of Congress demanded that Secretary of State Marco Rubio release the congressionally mandated 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which was due to Congress on June 30 and is critical to combating the scourge of human trafficking.

The report comes from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), which recently fired over 70% of the human trafficking prevention staff due to reductions in force (RIFs) and other personnel policy changes. Given this purge of anti-trafficking experts, the lawmakers also requested updated information on the current staffing and resources available to J/TIP to fulfill its statutory duties under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. They emphasized that these significant staff cuts pose serious challenges to the international effort to monitor and combat human trafficking crimes.

The TIP report was finally released on October 1. To access this report, tap here. If you have questions about the 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, please email TIPOutreach@state.gov.

Countries are graded on a 3-tier system, with tier 3 documenting the worst “policy or pattern” of human trafficking. The governments of these countries are doing the least to fight human trafficking.

Countries doing the least to fight human trafficking

13-Year-Old Iowa Girl Kidnapped to Tennessee

An Iowa family claims their 13-year-old daughter was found in Tennessee after she was taken from her grandmother’s home by a child predator she met in a Roblox chat room. Now, they and other families are suing Roblox Corporation, accusing the gaming platform of failing to protect children from predators.

According to the lawsuit filed in Polk County, Iowa, 37-year-old Martin Amaya Sandoval groomed the girl through Roblox’s chatroom over the course of months. Court records allege Sandoval purchased gifts, told the teen he was “in love” with her, and eventually kidnapped her from her grandmother’s home in Iowa.

Prosecutors said he repeatedly and violently raped her and held her in his home in Jefferson County, Tennessee, until she escaped.

Sandoval remains in the Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He is charged with four counts of aggravated statutory rape. “These are very unsafe environments for children,” said Rikki Harris, CEO of Tennessee Voices, a nonprofit focused on child mental health and safety. “They expose children to predators and harmful content, and without really strong safeguards in place.”

The lawsuit claims Roblox — a free-to-play platform that has exploded in popularity among preteens — enabled the exploitation by relying on minimal safeguards, including self-reported birthdates for age verification. “What happened before trafficking is really where we need to be focused,” Harris said. “We need to be preventing those opportunities for children to become vulnerable.”

This Iowa case is not isolated. Families across the country have filed similar lawsuits alleging that Roblox has failed to protect minors from grooming, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. To watch a TV news spot, tap here.

TV News Clips & Articles

By on October 31, 2025   /   News