The Georgia “Sex Trafficking Ring Bust” Was More Complex Than Headlines Portrayed: Included Homeless, Missing And Runaway Children

Huffington Post writer Michael Hobbs breaks down the complexities of Georgia’s recent “child sex trafficking ring bust,” how it included more than just sex-trafficked children and why America needs to fix its very much broken foster care system.

The child sex trafficking conversations seem to have started with the mysterious death of #JeffreyEpstein, the shamed financier responsible for what may have been the largest child sex trafficking scheme in the entire county. The tumbleweed only grew bigger after that. Back in July, the internet accused retailer Wayfair of selling missing children using overpriced furniture pieces; in August #QAnon supporters held a nationwide “Save the Children” rally, and then, last week, news broke that 39 missing children were rescued from an enormous child sex trafficking ring in Atlanta.

The government’s official press release about the story read: “U.S. Marshals Find 39 Missing Children in Georgia During ‘Operation Not Forgotten.’” But Hobbs’s fact-check story questions the reporting of the U.S. Marshals Service’s press release. Were these children actually “safely rescued?” and does that have anything to do with why the report didn’t make it to national headlines? Hobbs says it’s because the children were never “rescued.” He says that the entire situation isn’t quite what it seems.

“This is not the big trafficking bust; everyone thinks it is. Any time a child is being harmed and is connected with meaningful support, that’s good. But at the same time, we have to recognize that these stories are not what they look like at first,” said Erin Albright, a human trafficking and law enforcement consultant who works with cities to develop anti-trafficking strategies, Hobbs reports. According to Darby Kirby, a U.S. Marshals Service inspector who was involved with the operation, the bust “was not a designated anti-trafficking operation.” Operation Not Forgotten was a combined effort from state and federal authorities to locate 78 “critically missing” children. Critically missing defines the children as being at risk for trafficking, be it at risk of parental abuse, or may be children with medical conditions that may make their recovery more urgent. By “recovered,” that means that the children were removed from whatever situation they were in, including being homeless, staying at a friend’s home, or staying with a parent who doesn’t have custody rights.

Of the 78 children that were recovered, 15 of them were suspected of being victims of trafficking. Only six of the 15 were confirmed cases. There were nine people arrested, and only one was charged with a sex-trafficking crime. The Huffington Post reports that out of the seven men and two women arrested, three were charged with probation violations, one was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, and two were accused of violating custody arrangements. Just one person was arrested on a warrant for a previous sex trafficking charge, and two more were arrested on warrants for sex crimes in other states, Hobbs writes.

Hobbs’ report also highlights that the children were not picked up from one, single location. Kirby told the outlet that two children were recovered together, and the other children were found on their own across 15 Georgia counties and six other states, including South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Kentucky, and Michigan. The investigation also took place over a span of two weeks, not one night. Hobbs also points out that a sex trafficking sting must include a trafficker. By definition, any person under 18 who trades sex for anything of value they have been trafficked. Sex trafficking does not necessarily mean that you are being pimped out or forced to do sexual acts as a minor. “These kids sometimes end up with folks that traffic them and sometimes end up trading sex for a place to stay or food to eat,” Albright said. “No one is saying it’s OK to pay a 15-year-old for sex,” Albright added. “What we’re saying is that law enforcement can’t be our only response. Children in these situations need a lot of support. What they don’t need is to be arrested, which unfortunately still happens in too many cases.”

Hobbs writes that it’s important to know significant details about child homelessness, sex trafficking, kidnapping, etc. so that the appropriate steps can be taken to help children’s specific needs. ”The system here is deeply, deeply flawed,” Leroy Lamar, the co-founder of Comprehensive Community Services, said. Georgia’s foster care system is chronically underfunded, and services for homeless teens are sparse. Lamar estimates that roughly 90% of street-based sex workers in Atlanta are functionally homeless, living out of the motels where they meet clients every night. ”Providing adequate services for kids before they end up on the streets would do a lot more for them than ‘rescuing’ them afterwards,” Lamar said.

Thankfully, the children that were sex trafficked have been transferred to the Receiving Hope Center, which is a facility that houses victims in Paulding, Georgia.