sex trafficking

PARENTS SPEAK OUT OVER DEMOTION OF SANTANA EDUCATORS

By Kirsten Andelman

March 11, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) -- Close to 100 people came before the Grossmont Union High School District board meeting February 22, eager to hear -- and be heard -- regarding disciplinary action taken against four educators at Santana High School after a teenager was sex-trafficked in 2021. 


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TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT, OFFERS HELP TO OTHERS

"God allows U-turns." -- Kathi Torres

By Miriam Raftery

View video interview by clicking image, right

February 26, 2023 (San Diego) – Kathi Torres with Freedom from Exploitation, an organization that helps survivors of human trafficking, is also a survivor of sex trafficking. In an exclusive interview with East County Magazine originally aired on KNSJ radio, Torres speaks out on her own experience, how to protect teens from traffickers, and how to get help for victims here in San Diego County, a national hub for human trafficking.

She also calls for repeal of a state law, Senate Bill 357, that decriminalized loitering to solicit prostitution, which she says has cut off the main avenue for victims to get help. 

“Because of this new law, police can’t stop, cite or arrest anyone for loitering to solicit prostitution,” including victims as well as men driving around looking to pick up prostitutes. But when police can’t detain trafficking victims, the victims don’t get referred to programs that can help them escape from being trafficked, says Torres, who was also a panelist at a recent presentation of “Stolen,” an NBC San Diego investigative series on trafficking.

Audio: 


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STOLEN DOCUMENTARY REVEALS SAN DIEGO CHILD TRAFFICKING EPIDEMIC

Story and photos by Shiloh Ireland and Miriam Raftery 

View video by Douglas Quaid including event highlights and ECM interviews with Monica Dean (photo, left) and Dr. Rhonda Taylor

 

January 28, 2023 (Lakeside) Sex trafficking of children inSan Diego is happening in every single school district inSan Diego County, NBC San Diego investigative reporter Monica Dean (photo, left) told parents and teachers during a showing othe documentary film Stolen at El Capitan High School in Lakeside on January 19.

 

That shocking evidence was found during NBC San Diegoaward-winning investigative reporting series on which the film is based. Dean, a mother of three young children, hopes to raise awareness to protect vulnerable children and teens in the community from exploitation by traffickers. We all have to stand up against them, she says of traffickers. We all have a role to play.

 

San Diego is one of the country’s hotspots for trafficking of adults and children – the FBI has ranked San Diego as one of the 13 worst regions in the United States with up to 8,000 victims per year.


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SCREENING OF “STOLEN” ON CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING JAN. 19 IN LAKESIDE

By Miriam Raftery

December 18, 2022 (Lakeside) – San Diego County is a hub for child sex trafficking, with at least 3,000 victims here each year. How can you protect your children?  Find out on Thursday, January 19 when the Lakeside Union School District and El Capitan High School PTSA groups host a screening of the film “Stolen: a Year-Long Investigation into Child Sex Trafficking and Exploitation.”  This must-see film based on an NBC 7 investigative series will be shown at the El Capitan High School Events Center (10410 Ashwood St., Lakeside) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.


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FBI IN SAN DIEGO RESCUES 17 HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS AS PART OF NATIONAL ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

By Miriam Raftery

August 16, 2022 (San Diego) – The FBI San Diego division today announced that it has located at least 17 potential human trafficking victims, including a minor, as part of the nationwide “Operation Cross Country XII” operation. The national FBI-led effort partnered with agencies across the U.S. to recover 141 adult and 84 minor victims of human trafficking, including 37 missing children; the youngest victim was 11 years old.


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VICTIMS BEHIND BARS: TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS STILL STRUGGLE DESPITE LAWS

By Bryhonda Lyons, CalMatters

CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Sara Kruzan, 43, who spent 17 years in prison for killing her trafficker, now helps other victims obtain new sentences for their crimes so they can be released. Photo by Shae Hammond for CalMatters

January 28, 2021 (San Diego's East County) - Sara Kruzan was in her cell when she received a fax that changed her life. After spending some of her teenage years, all of her 20s and much of her 30s in prison for killing her trafficker, Kruzan learned that California’s attorney general had acknowledged that she was a victim of domestic violence. That was 2012. A year later, she was released from prison. 


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

POSTERS INFORM PUBLIC HOW TO REPORT SUSPECTED TRAFFICKING

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

July 29, 2019 (San Diego) - California Senate Bill 1193 (SB1193), enacted in 2013, added a law that certain businesses such as on-sale beer and liquor establishments, general public premise licenses, type 48are required to post a notice to help and assist victims of human trafficking, and alert the general public, on how to report the sex trafficking.


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HOUSE PASSES REP. SUSAN DAVIS’ LEGISLATION TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING

 

Bill takes aim at stopping sex trafficking at schools, training educators how to identify victims

East County News Service

July 12, 2017 (San Diego) -- The House of Representatives passed legislation by U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) to combat sex trafficking. The Empower Educators to Prevent Trafficking Act (H.R. 2268) was included in a package of legislation - The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Protection Act (H.R. 2200).


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SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES TONI ATKINS' BILL TO HELP CONVICT SEX TRAFFICKERS

 

East County News Service

May 5, 2017 (Sacramento) - The California Senate this week passed Senate Bill 230, legislation by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that will help prosecutors convict predators who traffic in sex slavery. The bill passed by a vote of 36-0.


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CA WORKS TO PROTECT YOUTH SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS IN CRISIS

 

Public News Service

November 27. 2016 (Los Angeles) -- California is home to three of the top 13 hot spots for child sex trafficking: Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Now LA and Long Beach are launching a new "Safe Youth Zone" to help young victims escape.


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UKRANIAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS PRISON FOR SEX TRAFFICKING TWO ADULT WOMEN

 

East County News Service

May 5, 2016 (San Diego) -- Sergeyi Bazar, a 37-year-old Ukrainian national living in San Diego, was sentenced in federal court May 3rd to 17 years in custody for sex trafficking two adult women in late 2014. Bazar was found guilty after jury trial in November 2015 for two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of coercion and enticement.


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PROP 35 STIFFENS PENALTIES FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

By Thea Skinner

San Diego has one of the highest rates of child sex trafficking in the U.S.

October 10, 2012 (San Diego's East County)--Proposition 35 would increase prison sentences and fines for anyone convicted of human trafficking — the illegal trade of human beings for sex slavery or forced labor. Prison sentences would be increased to 15-years-to life, with fines up to $1.5 million. Prop 35 would also require anyone convicted of sex trafficking to register as a sex offender and disclose identities they use on the Internet, along with which sites they visit. 

In a rare show of unity, this proposition is supported by both the California Democratic and Republican parties.


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NEARLY 80 JUVENILES RECOVERED IN NATIONWIDE OPERATION TARGETING UNDERAGE PROSTITUTION

Seven pimps arrested and two juveniles recovered by San Diego Innocent Lost Task Force and assisting law enforcement agencies 

June 27, 2012, (San Diego) -- Hundreds of FBI special agents partnered with thousands of local police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, and other law enforcement personnel throughout the United States this past week, arresting those responsible for exploiting underage children through prostitution.

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