Solon Hosts Human Trafficking Seminar and Town Forum (Cleveland.com) July 5, 2018
“While online technology has led to exponential increases in human trafficking, it is by no means a new crime.
“‘It is a very old crime — it’s just been given a new name,’ Sr. Anne Victory stated at a June 26 forum put on by the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking. ‘It used to go by a different name: Slavery.’
“As a former assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, Mayor Ed Kraus pointed out that ‘we do have it here in Solon.’
“And just about everywhere else, for that matter.
“Police Chief Christopher Viland concurred, recalling that at one time ‘we had a large immigrant population that was working at one of our local restaurants, and was rescued by Immigration and Naturalization at the time.’
“Viland also recounted a case over the past year involving a a missing juvenile from a neighboring town who found her way down to Tower City.
“From there, she was sold around neighborhoods and vacant houses in Cleveland, ‘taken advantage of while being kept high and drunk,’ until a regional task force intervened.
“‘We are seeing it across the county, in all demographics,’ noted Teresa Stafford, now the senior director of victim services and outreach with the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.”
Through Project STAR (Sex Trafficking Advocacy and Recovery), we provide intervention, advocacy, support and counseling to survivors of sex trafficking.
Continue reading: What to Look For: Solon Hosts Human Trafficking Seminar and Town Forum