A report by the Wisconsin Department of Justice has prompted a discussion among law enforcement experts on child sex trafficking in the state.
The report says that about 20 percent of Wisconsin law enforcement has dealt with one to five cases of child sex trafficking in the last two years.
At the National Association of Attorneys General conference in Milwaukee, Jesse Crowe of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation said many of the adults arrested have a lot to lose. “We have arrested police officers, politicians, firefighters, lawyers, doctors – those are the people perpetrating these crimes.”
Vernon Keenan of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says in some cases, Wisconsin children have been trafficked out of state.
“One of the first cases we worked was a runaway child from Wisconsin,” says Keenan. “There was a 15-year-old girl with an infant child who was in a hotel in Atlanta being sold for sex.” Keenan says the teenager and her child were located and returned to Wisconsin.
He says many of those trafficked have run away from abusive homes or foster care and may have substance abuse problems, and that within three days of running away many children are approached by someone who wants to bring them into the sex trafficking business.
The new Wisconsin state budget puts some additional funds into fighting the problem.
