"Sizeable busts in prostitution ring"Oddly enough they just had a sizeable bust in NO, maybe 10-15 women/girls were let free from an undisclosed location.
Thats a confusing headline
"Sizeable busts in prostitution ring"Oddly enough they just had a sizeable bust in NO, maybe 10-15 women/girls were let free from an undisclosed location.
The military would have punished you for beating up a slaver?The first time I went on deployment, I saw this first hand. It was eye opening for me and I was in shock and awe of how wide spread it really was. Bahrain, Dubai, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, almost everywhere. In the Middle Eastern ports, alcohol is illegal to sell except in the big hotels. So some of them turn straight into brothels and are essentially split into two separate parts. You have a tourist section and another section where sex slaves and whores temporarily stay. They fly in from all over the World, but mostly Ethiopia,Eastern Europe, Russia, and some Asian women too. They have disco tech (nightclubs) areas that have gorgeous women everywhere. They are almost all prostitutes. Even the women that work at these places serving drinks can be bought out. I have had a couple run ins with some Russian pimps, one still haunts me to this day. I wish I would have had enough money to buy one girl in particular for a night just to fly her straight to America or anywhere for her to be safe. I sometimes wonder if she is still alive, and the fat pig that treated her like a piece of equipment still haunts me periodically. It took every nerve I had for me and a couple friends to not get into a fight and cause a scene, and we only resisted so we wouldn't get in trouble by the military. Looking back I can't help but think we let someone get abused in every way imaginable. I remember looking back at her as I was walking away, and seeing tears in her eyes as if her last ticket of hope in life was forever lost. I will never forget it, and will always have a different view on the World and particularly that region for the rest of my life. I was at one time much younger, innocent, and open minded but some things change a man forever. This was one of those times.
Could it be that people are just more aware?If the trafficking hotline correlates to incidence of trafficking (I would expect that it would), this number is alarming
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/02/05/Report-Human-trafficking-in-US-rose-357-percent-in-one-year/5571486328579/
Definitely, without a doubt. They are very very very worried about their image and any potential headlines. And alcohol and an altercation of ANYthing whatsoever is a huge deal. Plus, it's a person who is living in that country's word over a drunk military guy who the police probably aren't too fond of. Who do you think they will side with?The military would have punished you for beating up a slaver?
I really don't know that's why I asked.Definitely, without a doubt. They are very very very worried about their image and any potential headlines. And alcohol and an altercation of ANYthing whatsoever is a huge deal. Plus, it's a person who is living in that country's word over a drunk military guy who the police probably aren't too fond of. Who do you think they will side with?
Keep in mind that the situation would most likely turn into a situation where they would say one thing and the military member would say the other. How are the police supposed to know what the truth is? Also, they are citizens or at least residents and you are a US military member who the police probably aren't too fond of.I really don't know that's why I asked.
they would have let you rot in a 3rd world jail?
what sort of punishment would the military have given you after you explained the situation?
I hope not. I'd like us to win this one.I found this through #pizzagate.... which is stupid, but those numbers are hard to shy away from.
This is the next "war on drugs"
Simply amazing how one of the largest busts is history goes untold by any of the "major news" networks.
It's been almost ten years now, but he really ramped it up when he and Demi Moore divorced. Thorn is a really solid organization. Does a lot of good in the world.When did Ashton Kutcher become a voice on this subject? I welcome it, but was caught a little off guard by that realization.
So it seems....been doing some reading. Ready to volunteer wherever I can. Sent in inquiry this morning.It's been almost ten years now, but he really ramped it up when he and Demi Moore divorced. Thorn is a really solid organization. Does a lot of good in the world.When did Ashton Kutcher become a voice on this subject? I welcome it, but was caught a little off guard by that realization.
If you travel a lot, also download the TraffickCam app. Take pictures of every hotel room you stay in. They're used to identify hotel rooms with trafficking victims in them in photos.So it seems....been doing some reading. Ready to volunteer wherever I can. Sent in inquiry this morning.
His statement about going to bed every night knowing that if he "built the right thing" he could save a child he'd seen getting raped on video... just soul crushing.Kutcher's testimony before Congress yesterday was very powerful, and i'm glad it's getting more widespread attention.
Here is the full 100 minutes or so of the hearing
Here is Kutcher's 15 minute opening statement
Well worth your time to watch as much as you can, and to share on social media.
like with most things (eg, drugs), it's not nearly that simpleThis is humanity in a nut shell. Such a severe and disgusting problem that could be stopped with a little bit of money but instead they throw money at things like drugs.
That's the thing, i think it is that simple. If we spent the money we could put a huge dent in it.like with most things (eg, drugs), it's not nearly that simple
:takingnotes:If you travel a lot, also download the TraffickCam app. Take pictures of every hotel room you stay in. They're used to identify hotel rooms with trafficking victims in them in photos.
oso diablo said:Kutcher's testimony before Congress yesterday was very powerful, and i'm glad it's getting more widespread attention.
Here is the full 100 minutes or so of the hearing
Here is Kutcher's 15 minute opening statement
Well worth your time to watch as much as you can, and to share on social media.
It's tough to hear. Really tough stuff.rockaction said:Simply in support of all efforts and victims of this. Feel it's important to speak out. Will dial up Kutcher's testimony in a minute.
Drugs are pretty simpleoso diablo said:like with most things (eg, drugs), it's not nearly that simple
Joined Thorn yesterday. Awesome post!It's been almost ten years now, but he really ramped it up when he and Demi Moore divorced. Thorn is a really solid organization. Does a lot of good in the world.
On one level I hope you're not trying to be funny. On another I hope you are and aren't wasting the time of volunteers and law enforcement who go through these pictures trying to save lives.I sleep with a lot of foreign women
posted a photo of my bedroom on that site just to be sure they haven't been trafficked
Well then what the do you want me to say?On one level I hope you're not trying to be funny. On another I hope you are and aren't wasting the time of volunteers and law enforcement who go through these pictures trying to save lives.
And learn the signs. Well dressed wealthy men with girls in ill-fitting tattered clothes, girls/women on planes who don't know where they're going or aren't allowed to speak for themselves...This issue increases to bother me the more I learn about it. Just in the last week or so, the Superbowl and Detroit auto show netted a large number of johns, pimps and sex slaves. This trafficking follows large events.
Please be on the lookout if you attend anything high profile. See something... say something.
Horrifying. I don't see what it has to do with trafficking, but certainly sexual assault and rape are crimes that should be much more reported and prosecuted than they are.Prosecutors in Cleveland discovered 70 cases that had gotten ignored
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prosecutor-70-ohio-child-sex-assault-cases-unattended-45479658
awful
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/labor-nominee-acosta-cut-deal-with-billionaire-in-sex-abuse-case-involving-40-underage-girls/2017/03/21/d33271a8-0d85-11e7-ab07-07d9f521f6b5_story.html?utm_term=.1104bd47846eLabor nominee Acosta cut deal with billionaire guilty in sex abuse case
There was once a time — before the investigations, before the sexual abuse conviction — when rich and famous men loved to hang around with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire money manager who loved to party.
They visited his mansion in Palm Beach, Fla. They flew on his jet to join him at his private estate on the Caribbean island of Little Saint James. They even joked about his taste in younger women.
President Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” back in 2002, saying that “he’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Now, Trump is on the witness list in a Florida court battle over how federal prosecutors handled allegations that Epstein, 64, sexually abused more than 40 minor girls, most of them between the ages of 13 and 17. The lawsuit questions why Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, former Miami U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta, whose Senate confirmation hearing began Wednesday morning, cut a non-prosecution deal with Epstein a decade ago rather than pursuing a federal indictment that Acosta’s staff had advocated.
Although Epstein’s friends and visitors once included past and future presidents, rock stars, and some of the country’s richest men, he is no longer a social magnet. Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge of felony solicitation of underage girls in 2008 and served a 13-month jail sentence. Politicians who had accepted his donations, including former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, have scurried to give them back. (Harvard University kept a $6.5 million gift, saying it was “funding important research” in mathematics.)
But Epstein’s unusually light punishment — he was facing up to a life sentence had he been convicted on federal charges — has raised questions about how Acosta handled the case.
Former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter, whose department conducted the initial investigation into Epstein’s behavior, said in a civil lawsuit deposition that Epstein got off easy.
“That wasn’t an appropriate resolution of this matter,” Reiter said, arguing that the charges leveled against Epstein were “very minor,” compared with what the facts called for. In a letter to parents of Epstein’s victims, Reiter said justice had not been served.
Prosecutors in Acosta’s Miami office who had joined the FBI in the investigation concluded, according to documents produced by the U.S. attorney’s office, that Epstein, working through several female assistants, “would recruit underage females to travel to his home in Palm Beach to engage in lewd conduct in exchange for money … Some went there as much as 100 times or more. Some of the women’s conduct was limited to performing a topless or nude massage while Mr. Epstein masturbated himself. For other women, the conduct escalated to full sexual intercourse.”
Epstein has a near-legendary reputation in New York financial circles as a money manager who made many millions for his clients. Although he never graduated from college, he taught advanced math at the Dalton School, one of the city’s top private schools, and went on to be a successful trader at Bear Stearns before starting his own firm, J. Epstein& Co., which managed the finances of clients who had a minimum of $1 billion in assets.
Federal prosecutors detailed their findings in an 82-page prosecution memo and a 53-page indictment, but Epstein was never indicted. In 2007, Acosta signed a non-prosecution deal in which he agreed not to pursue federal charges against Epstein or four women who the government said procured girls for him. In exchange, Epstein agreed to plead guilty to a solicitation charge in state court, accept a 13-month sentence, register as a sex offender and pay restitution to the victims identified in the federal investigation.
“This agreement will not be made part of any public record,” the deal between Epstein and Acosta says. The document was unsealed by a federal judge in a civil lawsuit in 2015.
Reiter said in the 2009 deposition that federal prosecutors in Miami told him “that typically these kinds of cases with one victim would end up in a ten-year sentence.” Reiter said he was surprised not only by the decision to pull back from prosecuting the case, but also by the light sentence and liberal privileges granted to Epstein during his jail term.
During Wednesday’s confirmation hearing Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) pressed Acosta about the plea agreement reached with Epstein.
Acosta told the committee that the case started at the state level before the Department of Justice decided to get involved. He said the original charge debated would not have led to any jail time and that “based on the evidence,” prosecutors decided to go with a deal where Epstein would have to register as a sex offender and agree to a two-year prison sentence.
His testimony Wednesday reflected Acosta’s explanation of his decision in a “To whom it may concern” letter that he released to news organizations three years after the decision: “The bottom line is this: Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire, served time in jail and is now a registered sex offender. He has been required to pay his victims restitution, though restitution clearly cannot compensate for the crime.” Acosta wrote that the case against Epstein grew stronger over the years because more victims spoke out after Epstein was convicted.
Acosta is Trump’s second nominee to be secretary of labor; the first, Andrew Puzder, withdrew last month after Senate Republicans questioned his past employment of an undocumented housekeeper. Support for Acosta seems strong, as some Democrats and union leaders have joined with Senate Republicans in praising the nominee, who has been confirmed for federal positions three times in the past.
In the 2011 letter explaining his decision in the Epstein case, Acosta said he backed off from pressing charges after “a year-long assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors” by “an army of legal superstars” who represented Epstein, including Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz; Kenneth Starr, who as independent counsel led the investigation that brought about President Bill Clinton’s impeachment; and some of the nation’s most prominent defense attorneys, such as Roy Black, Gerald Lefcourt and Jay Lefkowitz.
“The defense strategy was not limited to legal issues,” Acosta wrote. “Defense counsel investigated individual prosecutors and their families, looking for personal peccadilloes that may provide a basis for disqualification.”
Dershowitz said in an interview that no such effort to rattle the prosecutors ever took place. “That’s just dead wrong,” he said. “I would never participate in anything of that kind. Of course we investigated the witnesses but not Acosta’s deputies. That’s absurd.”
Acosta’s “intention was to indict, and he fought hard and tried to get the best deal he could,” Dershowitz said. “We outlawyered him.” Epstein did not return a call seeking comment.
Conchita Sarnoff, the author of “TrafficKing,” a book on the Epstein case, said in an interview that Acosta told her a few years after his decision not to prosecute that “he felt incapable of going up against those eight powerful attorneys. He felt his career was at stake.”
In his letter about the decision, Acosta, who has been dean of the law school at Florida International University since 2009, acknowledged that “some prosecutors felt that we should just go to trial, and at times I felt that frustration myself.” He also complained that Epstein “received highly unusual treatment while in jail,” including being allowed to serve much of his sentence in the county jail rather than a state prison, and being permitted to leave the jail six days a week to work at home before returning to jail to sleep.
“The treatment that he received while in state custody undermined the purpose of a jail sentence,” Acosta said.
Dershowitz said Acosta “was very anxious to prosecute” Epstein, but “we persuaded them that they didn’t have enough evidence of interstate transportation” of the underage girls to warrant federal charges.
But Reiter, the former police chief, said the FBI had evidence “from flight logs or something” that an underage victim “was transported on an aircraft of Mr. Epstein.”
“Some may feel that the prosecution should have been tougher,” Acosta wrote. “Evidence that has come to light since 2007 may encourage that view.” But the prosecutor argued that his office’s investigation allowed state prosecutors to strengthen their charges against Epstein. And Acosta said that those who disagree with his decision “are not the ones who at the time reviewed the evidence available for trial and assessed the likelihood of success.”
The deal Acosta made with Epstein precluded any new federal prosecution based on offenses he may have committed between 2001 and 2007, but in Florida, Trump is on the witness list in a civil case in which two attorneys accuse federal prosecutors of having deceived Epstein’s victims by failing to inform them that they would not charge Epstein.
Lawyers for the women argue that they had a right under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act to know about Acosta’s deal with Epstein. They say Acosta sought to keep the deal under wraps to avoid “the intense public criticism that would have resulted from allowing a politically-connected billionaire” to escape from federal prosecution.
Although Trump and Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane and visited his homes, neither president has been accused of taking part in the sexual misdeeds. But lawyers for Epstein’s victims say Trump nonetheless may have useful information. Trump banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach “because Epstein sexually assaulted an underage girl at the club,” Bradley Edwards, an attorney who represents three of the young women, said in court documents.
Lawyers involved with the various Epstein cases said there is virtually no chance that the president will be required to testify in a matter in which both sides agree his involvement was tangential.
Trump and Clinton are both among the dozens of names that appeared in a “black book” of Epstein’s phone contacts that his houseman, Alfredo Rodriguez, obtained. Rodriguez, who died in 2015, was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2010 after he tried to sell the book for $50,000 to lawyers representing Epstein’s victims. In the book, Rodriguez circled the names of contacts he said were involved in sexual misbehavior at Epstein’s properties. There were no circles around the names of Trump, Clinton or other boldfaced names such as former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and celebrities Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, David Frost and Jimmy Buffett.
Rodriguez spent 18 months in prison, five months longer than Epstein served in jail.
Epstein has continued to move among his homes in New York City, where he owns one of the largest private residences in Manhattan, Palm Beach and the Caribbean.
That is a very good question.Well the question of whether or not there were politicians involved in sex trafficing and child rape was a serious question which has since been answered.
@Carolina Hustler glad to discuss it, just in a thread about.... human trafficking.Carolina Hustler said:How convenient. Lefties use the thread for a catch-all to degrade righties. Someone mentions a democrat rapist.. "Oh, we cant talk about that in here".. interesting.
I hear Dershowitz, Starr and Roy Black were going after Acosta personally...some major ethics violationsThat's crazy
Protect your child from becoming a victim
The internet is a wealth of information, but it is also a place where danger is just one click away.
Today, most teens – and now many children – have access to a smartphone or a computer, however, many parents are unaware of the risks this kind of connectivity poses.
Pew Research Center reports that 45 percent of teens are online almost constantly via phone, computer or gaming device. With this type of access, social media is increasingly being exploited to contact, recruit and sell children for sex according to the University of Toledo Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute.
Does it scare you? If not, it should. If your child has a device, they are at risk. With a simple click, they have the ability to connect with strangers anywhere in the world. As parents we need to step up our game to stay ahead of sneaky teens and potential pedophiles. We must be consistent and vigilant about keeping them safe.
If I sound a little impassioned about this topic, you’re correct. I’ve had my eyes opened to this horrendous crime (#2 in the U.S.) against our youth. I’ve interviewed victims of sex trafficking, nonprofits that aid trafficking victims, attended seminars on the topic, and spent countless hours researching this crime. As a result, I have made a commitment to myself to spread the word through my writing.
What I’ve learned is, as parents it’s better to be informed and educated so we can advocate for the safety of our children and the safety of others. Don’t be naïve and think it can’t happen in Collin or Dallas County. It already has.
Take these steps to help protect your child from being a potential victim.
• Monitor your child’s online account and friends. Don’t allow unlimited access to TV, internet and smart devices (phones, laptops, tablets, gaming systems), follow them on social media and take steps to password protect their settings and restrict their ability to download apps without consent. If they are under 18, use parental controls and filtering programs such as TeenSafe, X3Watch, or CovenantEyes. Keep your child’s phone or computer out of their bedroom and locked away at night.
“Know what your kids are doing, who they are seeing and where they are going on the internet,” says Vicki Latham, Director of Communication and Development of 4theone.org, a Carrollton nonprofit that helps locate missing teens. “Get their passwords and login information on all devices. Activate the GPS location trackers on their phones.”
• Talk to your kids about trafficking. Because children are so trusting, they are easy prey for traffickers. Studies show the average age a child is recruited is 12 or 13 years old for a girl, 14-15 for a boy. “Have a discussion about the dangers of social media and manipulative people, who sometimes look totally cute and cool on the outside, but they do not have their best interest at heart,” says Latham.
• Educate your child about sex abuse prevention. “1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before age 18 and 90 percent of the time it is someone they know well and trust such as a cousin, uncle, boyfriend, brother or father,” reports Rebecca Jowers, founder of Rockwall-based Poiema, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of human trafficking. Look for ways to meet your child’s friends, their friends’ parents and those they hang out with. Don’t let your child go to a sleepover at someone’s house who you don’t know really well.
• Make them feel safe and secure at home. If teens are from a loving, caring home the risks are far lower.” It’s the vulnerability factors that put the person at risk,” reports Jowers. Factors such as age, history of abuse, divorce, death, parents doing drugs, kids in foster care, etc. can all make a child more vulnerable.
• Prevention education is key. Human trafficking training for educators in Texas is not mandated nor is it a required topic for students. Much like bullying and drug awareness, this is a topic that MUST be covered. Ask your child’s school, youth organization or church to offer awareness and prevention programming to students, parents and school staff. Nonprofits Traffick911 and Poiema not only aid victims of trafficking, they work to raise awareness through prevention education. Traffick911 hosts a class called Traps, an interactive youth program designed to equip youth (ages 12-18) to avoid the tricks, traps and lures of human traffickers. Poiema offers a class called Human Trafficking (HT) 101 that educates people how to report suspicious activity, how perpetrators recruit children, how to identify human trafficking victims, how to talk to children about sex and human trafficking and sex abuse prevention and education.
The time is now to be proactive about protecting our children about this form of modern day slavery. Don’t wait until it’s too late.