Seven Trafficking Alerts

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Two Traffickers Get Federal Prison Time for Sex Trafficking Minors

An Omaha pair have been sentenced to more than a decade each in federal prison for conspiring to sex traffic minors in the Omaha and Lincoln area, as well as Iowa and Texas. Lauryn “Lola” Besta, 22, and Darien Brewer, 30, both pleaded guilty.

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp said an investigation by Homeland Security and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office determined that from January 2016 through January 2019, the pair worked together to recruit, transport, and entice four minor girls, under 18, to engage in commercial sex.

Besta and Brewer introduced them to the lifestyle by providing them drugs and alcohol. They often referred to the minors as “the Bunny Gang.” Sharp said Besta and Brewer would instruct the minors how to advertise, solicit and charge for commercial sex acts in Nebraska and elsewhere.

They posted ads on internet sites, coordinated meetings and drove the minors to hotels, motels, and other states including Iowa. The minors paid a portion or all of the proceeds to Besta and Brewer.

Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Besta on Friday to 11 years and 10 months of imprisonment. On Aug. 27, Rossiter sentenced Brewer to 15 years. Both also will have to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

All Iowa school bus drivers are now trained to be on the lookout for human trafficking

bus-driver-trainingIn the fall of 2018, Iowa became the nation’s first state to require training about human trafficking for its school bus drivers. Despite the disruption of the COVID pandemic, all 9,000 Iowa school bus drivers are now trained! Once again, the Iowa Department of Transportation and Truckers Against Trafficking are leading the country in the fight to end human trafficking. We also commend the Iowa Department of Education and its school transportation services department for moving this training requirement forward.

Child trafficking is often invisible, right in front of our eyes. Hidden in plain sight every day means Iowa’s school children are vulnerable to the tragic realities of falling victim to human trafficking. This year, in an effort to identify, disrupt, and report human trafficking of Iowa’s youth, every school bus driver in every school district in the state has now received specialized training, enabling drivers to act and help save young lives from such a fate. The 9,000 extra pairs of trained eyes on board are on the lookout and well-positioned to impact the lives of students.

Looking toward the future, the training is also included in the orientation for all new Iowa school bus drivers.

Human Trafficking Training for Anyone Who Comes Into Contact with an HT Victim

Understanding human trafficking for first responders

As of July 1st, Iowa became the 14th State to Eliminate the Statute of Limitations For Minors Who Are Sex Trafficked or Sexually Exploited

The Governor signed Senate File 562 which eliminates the statute of limitations to bring criminal charges for sexual abuse-related crimes committed against minors. This is a bill that the NAHT supported although it was not on our priority list. This bill also includes children and youth under the age of 18 who were sex trafficked. Iowa is the 14th state to eliminate the Statute of limitations for minors.

Previously, charges for human trafficking, sexual exploitation, incest, and sexual abuse couldn’t be issued after 10 or 15 years had passed since the minor victim had turned 18 years old, depending on the type of sex crime.

A leading advocate for SF562 was Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant, whose Lohse Family Foundation has been a major supporter of the Iowa NAHT.

While the new law eliminates the statute for criminal charges, it does not eliminate the state’s statute of limitations for bringing a civil claim. Senator Lohse has stated that he is open to introducing legislation about eliminating the civil statute of limitations next year – 2022.

Currently, Iowans have up to a year after they turn 18 to file a lawsuit over the abuse they experienced as minors. If the abuse was by a counselor, therapist or school employee, survivors can file claims up to five years after they are no longer enrolled at the school or receiving treatment from the therapist or counselor.

In addition to eliminating the criminal statute of limitations, the law also creates a new criminal offense of sexual exploitation by an adult providing training or instruction, which it defines as a non-school adult employee providing paid training or instruction to a minor outside of a school setting. The charge could be a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the severity.

New Internet Safety Resource for Teens Available Now

Do you have teens or tweens in your life who you care about? Are you nervous about their online safety? Are you desperately trying to figure out a way to convince them to be safer on social media? Shared Hope International has some great resources that will address your concerns.

Their Internet Safety team has paired up with teen-led anti-trafficking organization Youth Ending Slavery to create a mobile-friendly internet safety website for teens: https://youthonline.sharedhope.org/.

Together, they have created a website that is both relatable and easily accessible to the teens in your life—all while teaching them the dos and don’ts of online safety.

Visit the new website by tapping here https://youthonline.sharedhope.org/.

This website starts discussions with youth about sex trafficking, how online sex traffickers work, how to protect themselves, and how to take action against online predators.

To check out this brand-new resource (as well as all of their other free Internet Safety resources), head over to the Shared Hope’s internet safety resource on their website page by tapping here https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/prevent/awareness/internetsafety/.

Two groups from India recently learned about Iowa’s fight against human trafficking

Iowa Rotary District 6000 Governor, Alka Khanolkar, is also on the board of the Iowa NAHT. Alka arranged a Zoom training between Iowa and India on July 30th in honor of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Alka has made the prevention of human trafficking her major goal as Iowa’s new Rotary Governor. District 6000 is made of 67 clubs with nearly 4000 service club members

The two-hour virtual meeting connected Iowans with the Rotary Club of Seven Hills Dharwad, India. Three US presenters spoke about the progress being made to end trafficking in Iowa. The speakers included, Teresa Davidson, Vice-Chair of the NAHT, Karen Walkowski, President of the Rotary Club to End Human Trafficking, and George Belitsos, Board Chair of the NAHT.

A speaker representing India spoke about the growing slavery problem in his country and how the Covid pandemic has resulted in a recent increase in modern slavery. If one includes forced child marriage, the number of enslaved people in India is nearly 18 million. The Zoom screen photo below shows the speaker from India, William Christopher. He serves on the India High Power Committee on Human Trafficking and Bonded Labor.

speaker-in-india

Shirlee Reding, NAHT Board Member and Chair of the Central Iowa Service Network Against Trafficking (CISN) made a second virtual presentation on human trafficking to a group of international anti-human trafficking professionals from India. These participants were invited to connect with Iowans by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State. Janet Norton of the Iowa International Centers was their hostess and program guide while studying in Iowa. The Department of State outlines the following specific objectives for the project:

  • Examine efforts to combat trafficking in Iowa, including crimes against women and children, by examining the formulation, administration, and enforcement of policies at the international, national, state, and local levels;
  • Present innovative strategies for preventing, investigating, and prosecuting trafficking crimes;
  • Explore Iowa initiatives to recognize, protect, and assist victims of abuse and trafficking, including social and economic reintegration services;
  • Discuss awareness and education efforts and share strategies for international cooperation in combating trafficking in persons.

Shirlee gave the group a brief history of how the CISN came to be and some of the major projects CISN worked on over the years. She told them about our efforts to get Iowa legislation passed that would allow law enforcement to closely monitor the activities of their local massage businesses because of the illegal activities that occur in some of them. She also talked about the hotel/motel employee training undertaken by the NAHT. Through our discussions, it became apparent neither of these programs is something they are currently doing in India but she sensed both were eye-opening. She further got the impression it was something they intended to bring back to their superiors as something worth pursuing.

After Shirlee’s presentation Chief David Lorenzen spoke about the various anti-trafficking projects at the Iowa Department of Transportation. Chief Lorenzen also presented information and anti-trafficking projects of Truckers Against Trafficking.

virtual-presentation-snapshot

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By on September 29, 2021   /   News