The pathway leading to the dark corners of human trafficking
began in the fluorescent-flooded hallways of a Florida middle school.
Sacharay, which
is how she wants to be known, was 14 years old and looking for a friend.
"I used to
get picked on a lot about being dark-skinned. I started wearing glasses and was
called 'four-eyes.' And then they knew because I was so sensitive, they knew it
was getting to me," she said.
But when an
older classmate approached her and offered to be her friend, Sacharay thought
maybe her fortunes had finally started to turn.
"I thought
she was like my best friend because I could tell her everything. One day she
asked if I wanted to skip school and have fun, you know, so we went to the barber
shop. When I was there, she introduced me to these guys," said Sacharay,
now 19.
One of the men,
in his mid-30s, immediately took notice of Sacharay. He soon began courting her
with gifts, paying her compliments and offering advice on the daily dramatics
of adolescent life.
"If me and
my sister would be arguing, he'd be like, 'You can't get into an argument with
your sister like that.' He was more like a dad, but then again we had sex, so
it wasn't. It was just in the communication and how he talked to me," she
recalled.
It was child
rape.
But this subtle,
subversive mix of romantic love and parental care can create havoc in the mind
of an adolescent, said Anique Whitmore, a forensic psychologist in Atlanta.
"What we
know about sex crimes is that it's not about sexual pleasure. It's about
control," said Whitmore. "What is similar to some of those girls that
I work with is their self-esteem or lack thereof. You either become vulnerable
to a man on the street or a man you meet in school. You become vulnerable
because you're looking for attention."
Soon, Sacharay's trafficker began asking for "favors"
-- asking her to help make some money for him, by sleeping with another man.
"He was
like, 'I love you for that, I love you so much,'" said Sacharay.
"Then he would slowly put two, three more guys. I got upset when I first
realized what he was doing, but I kept doing it because he made me feel like I
was special."
The exploitation
continued to escalate. Sacharay soon was being sold to dozens of men a day. She
would meet these sex buyers in motel rooms near a freeway, or even sometimes in
the back of the barbershop.
"One day I
was like, I can't do this no more. I was in pain. I had sex with almost 40 guys
in one day, and I was so tired, and I said, 'I can't do this no more.'"
Her trafficker
didn't care. He made sure she knew leaving was not an option.
"He went
into the other room, came back with a gun, and he was like: 'If you go
somewhere, we'll see.'"
More than 3,500 sex trafficking cases were reported to the
National Human Trafficking Resource Center last year alone.
Under federal
law, anyone under 18 years of age induced into commercial sex is a victim of
sex trafficking -- regardless of whether the trafficker uses force, fraud, or
coercion.
Sacharay's
exploiter eventually brought her and another teen to Atlanta, because he could
command higher prices.
The pathway leading to the dark corners of human trafficking
began in the fluorescent-flooded hallways of a Florida middle school.
Sacharay, which
is how she wants to be known, was 14 years old and looking for a friend.
"I used to
get picked on a lot about being dark-skinned. I started wearing glasses and was
called 'four-eyes.' And then they knew because I was so sensitive, they knew it
was getting to me," she said.
But when an
older classmate approached her and offered to be her friend, Sacharay thought
maybe her fortunes had finally started to turn.
"I thought
she was like my best friend because I could tell her everything. One day she
asked if I wanted to skip school and have fun, you know, so we went to the barber
shop. When I was there, she introduced me to these guys," said Sacharay,
now 19.
One of the men,
in his mid-30s, immediately took notice of Sacharay. He soon began courting her
with gifts, paying her compliments and offering advice on the daily dramatics
of adolescent life.
"If me and
my sister would be arguing, he'd be like, 'You can't get into an argument with
your sister like that.' He was more like a dad, but then again we had sex, so
it wasn't. It was just in the communication and how he talked to me," she
recalled.
It was child
rape.
But this subtle,
subversive mix of romantic love and parental care can create havoc in the mind
of an adolescent, said Anique Whitmore, a forensic psychologist in Atlanta.
"What we
know about sex crimes is that it's not about sexual pleasure. It's about
control," said Whitmore. "What is similar to some of those girls that
I work with is their self-esteem or lack thereof. You either become vulnerable
to a man on the street or a man you meet in school. You become vulnerable
because you're looking for attention."
Soon, Sacharay's trafficker began asking for "favors"
-- asking her to help make some money for him, by sleeping with another man.
"He was
like, 'I love you for that, I love you so much,'" said Sacharay.
"Then he would slowly put two, three more guys. I got upset when I first
realized what he was doing, but I kept doing it because he made me feel like I
was special."
The exploitation
continued to escalate. Sacharay soon was being sold to dozens of men a day. She
would meet these sex buyers in motel rooms near a freeway, or even sometimes in
the back of the barbershop.
"One day I
was like, I can't do this no more. I was in pain. I had sex with almost 40 guys
in one day, and I was so tired, and I said, 'I can't do this no more.'"
Her trafficker
didn't care. He made sure she knew leaving was not an option.
"He went
into the other room, came back with a gun, and he was like: 'If you go
somewhere, we'll see.'"
More than 3,500 sex trafficking cases were reported to the
National Human Trafficking Resource Center last year alone.
Under federal
law, anyone under 18 years of age induced into commercial sex is a victim of
sex trafficking -- regardless of whether the trafficker uses force, fraud, or
coercion.
Sacharay's
exploiter eventually brought her and another teen to Atlanta, because he could
command higher prices.
According to a
2014 study by the Urban Institute, some traffickers in Atlanta make more than
$32,000 a week.
The study also cited research findings from 2007 that Atlanta's
illegal sex industry generates around $290 million a year.
"It's a big
city. There's a lot to do in Atlanta. A lot of conventions, a lot of hotels, a
lot of parties going on, a lot of events," said Sgt. Torrey Kennedy with
the DeKalb County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit. "So just
like any businessmen, these traffickers know that."
A big part of
Atlanta's draw is the airport, which is the busiest in the world.
"(A) man
could get on that computer, anonymously, say, 'I'm coming in to go have sex
with this child.' He'll fly in on a 3:00 flight, meet the child at 6:00, and be
gone on the 8:00," said Dalia Racine, assistant district attorney for
DeKalb County, which includes part of Atlanta. "How are we to ever find
them? How are we to ever know who they are?"
Selling
Atlanta's children: What has and hasn't changed
Victims, not prostitutes
Racine and Kennedy often work together
to identify and then prosecute human trafficking rings.
As part of an
investigative series, the CNN
Freedom Project followed Kennedy and his team on raids for more than a year.
According to Kennedy, it's not unusual for a teen selling sex to deny that
she's working for someone, even if it's against her will.
In June 2014, DeKalb
County's ICAC and Vice Unit conducted an operation to find underage victims.
The team went exit by exit along I-285, the perimeter highway, to hotels where
undercover agents had arranged "dates" through an Internet escort site.
In several of those meetings, the escort who showed up turned out to be
underage.
Georgia law gives
authorities the opportunity to grant leniency if a girl is willing to go to a
safe home. But if she declines, their hands are somewhat tied.
Kennedy encountered this heartbreaking situation on the raid,
when a suspected victim of trafficking didn't want any help.
"We don't
want to arrest her. But she would rather go to jail than a treatment facility.
She said she's 'happy being miserable."'
Investigators
believe a local trafficker bought the girl in question a bus ticket from
Detroit to Atlanta, gave her a puppy and paid for the hotel room where she was
found.
"She has
one tattoo on her knee, we've seen multiple times in this area, and it's likely
it's a brand from a local pimp," said Kennedy. "That's one of the new
things from pimps. They put their logo on their girl. ... The tattoo is fresh,
which tells me that he just got his hands on her."
Struggling,
but stronger
Sacharay has her own tattoos dating back
to the time she was being exploited.
Her journey away
from exploitation started at the doorstep of a sanctuary run by the nonprofit
organization The Living Water
Center.
The organization
provided her with two things that didn't seem possible just a few years ago: a
GED and a job.
"I used to
hate looking in the mirror at myself," said Sacharay. "I still
struggle, but I can say I'm stronger, I'm wiser and I can honestly say I do
love myself. And I have hope for myself."
Sacharay now has
a new focus, and a new tattoo on her forearm that says "Free to Be
Me."
But for every
Sacharay, there are countless young women still trapped in this dangerous and
illegal trade.
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