BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) - Brown County has a major problem with sex trafficking.
That's the word from local law enforcement following the arrests of 15 people over a 3-day period last week as part of a nationwide child sex trafficking sting.
"Having 15 arrests in 3 days is significant," says Lt. Jim Valley, Brown County Sheriff's Department. "We did not work around the clock. The results, I think, speak for themselves as far as what problem we have in this area."
The sweep was part of the national effort led by the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to the FBI, 82 minors were rescued and 239 traffickers and their associates were arrested as part of Operation Cross Country X, focusing on underage human trafficking that ran from October 13 to October 16.
Here in Brown County, this operation included help from the Sheriff's Office, Green Bay Police Department, Ashwaubenon Public Safety, De Pere Police Department and the FBI-Milwaukee office.
"There's significant sex trafficking occurring in Brown County," says Brown County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Todd Delain. "We will continue to work together to eliminate this trade, which profits from preying upon young, at-risk members of our community."
According to local officials, 3 people were charged for child sex trafficking and child enticement. Two others were taken into custody for warrants unrelated charges and have been cited for municipal ordinance violations, prostitution and pandering a prostitute.
The remaining 10 were cited and released with municipal ordinances violations and for pandering a prostitute.
"One female and one juvenile female that both participated in acts of prostitution here locally were identified by this operation," Delain says. "They're receiving resources through Eye Heart World."
According to its website, Eye Heart World is a Green Bay-based organization working directly with survivors of trafficking by providing essential resources and facilitating the healing process.
"In the last year we've met with 26 different referrals from girls that have been involved in trafficking in Brown County," says Dawn Stang, Outreach Team Director. "They've all been from the state of Wisconsin, most of them are from Brown County."
FBI officials say, for the first time, this initiative also took place in several foreign countries. Law enforcement partners from Cambodia, Canada, the Philippines, and Thailand had operations in their respective countries.
In Canada, as part of a corresponding effort called Northern Spotlight, authorities recovered 16 children, while in Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines, authorities recovered 25 children, including a 2-year-old girl.
"Operation Cross Country aims to shine a spotlight into the darkest corners of our society that seeks to prey on the most vulnerable of our population,” said FBI Director James Comey, in a statement. “As part of this effort, we are not only looking to root out those who engage in the trafficking of minors, but through our Office for Victim Assistance, we offer a lifeline to minors to help them escape from a virtual prison no person ever deserves.”
Operations took place in a number of locations, including hotels, truck stops, and street corners. Minors recovered during an arrest are engaged with state protective services and victim assistance. Depending on the level of need, a law enforcement officer and, if available, an FBI victim specialist will accompany the survivor to obtain these services.
One example from various cities that took part in Operation Cross Country X:
Milwaukee Division Through a website advertisement, an undercover agent went to a home where two children, aged 16 and 17, were recovered. The girls indicated they were sisters and were being pimped out by their mother. The girls also informed authorities that their mother was allegedly renting out the girls’ brother’s room to a man who was a registered sex offender.
PUNISHMENT FITTING CRIME
When asked about the municipal citations issued to 10 of the suspects arrested in the operation, Valley replied that every case is determined individually.
"You have to understand that every case is done case-by-case in the severity and the details of the case itself. It's how, in partnership with the local villages and cities, it's determined whether to be issued as municipal ordinances or referring to the district attorney's office," Valley says. "We never stop discussing these types of crimes with the villages and also the other participating agencies and district attorney's office is what types of penalties are being sought for certain violations."
All 15 cases, officials say, continue to be under investigation. Beyond that, Delain adds that law enforcement is working on the education aspect of sex trafficking and prostitution.
"It's not just a matter of arresting them, issuing them an ordinance citation and sending them out the door," says Delain. "Officers spend time educating the person about the risks of what they're doing, the impact they have to the community."
Delain and others reiterate that this is not a so-called, "victimless crime." Their goal is to reduce demand for the crime.
"We work to find the victims to get them resources," Delain continues. "Our experience has been positive for many that when they leave, they have a better understanding of what kind of impact their actions have on the community. If they're receptive to that, then we're more inclined to go the ordinance citation."
EVOLUTION OF INVESTIGATING SEX
Ashwaubenon Public Safety Captain Jody Crocker took over his department's detective division 8 years ago. Back then, the agency was all about prostitution stings.
"We didn't really recognize that this was a trafficking issue, we treated as more of a crime," Crocker explains. "We would arrest a bunch of prostitutes that were advertising on Backpage or what have you. We would bring them in and write them a $2,500 ticket for escorting without a license or for prostitution."
Crocker says they would send the hookers on their way, but they still needed a way to pay for that ticket.
"We didn't care what the story was, just don't do it in my backyard, go do it somewhere else," says Crocker. "They would come back, 2 weeks later during another sting, arrest the same people. And their idea was, well I have to keep doing this to pay the citation and to live."
That, according to Crocker, was not solving the problem. About a year ago, he says they met with Eye Heart World to learn more about the trafficking side and start to change how they conducted operations.
"There's a story behind every person and that's what we started looking into," Crocker says. "We realized that this is a much bigger problem than someone going out and selling themselves. These girls, when you sit down and talk to them, you see the pain that they're going through and the hopelessness that they're going through. And at least the offer that we have to help them."
However, Crocker says that not everyone they come across wants help. But for the ones that do, they want to have that help available.