A message to human traffickers: 'This is not OK'

Picked up by the Associated Press Wire and re-published as Missouri

grapples with human trafficking
EMILY O'CONNOR
MAY 8, 2016
JEFFERSON CITY The descent into slavery began with a friendship.
Jessica Luebbert, a Jefferson City native, worked as a bartender and dancer in Columbia.
Sean, a regular customer at the bar where Luebbert worked, would tell her he simply
wanted to talk with her, she said. That's something not many customers desired.
Sean paid me about $100 an hour just to sit and talk with him, said Luebbert. It was
regular conversation. Nothing perverted. He was a friend.
He eventually lured Luebbert into sex slavery under false pretenses of a modeling career
by building up a friendship over time. She was drugged, raped and beaten in a villa for
three days in Maui, Hawaii, she said.
Luebbert's story is one of many trafficking situations in Missouri. The state is tied with
Washington, D.C. for No. 20 in most reported human trafficking cases in the U.S. last
year, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center defines human trafficking as a form of
modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to control victims
for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against their will.
Since 2007, more than 1,500 calls have been made from Missouri to the National Human
Trafficking hotline, the same site reported.
According to FBI press releases, 30 cases of human trafficking have been investigated in
St. Louis and 10 other counties in Missouri since 2009. But thats only a fraction of the
real number. Human trafficking is under-reported because of its hidden nature.
St. Louis and Kansas City are hotspots for human trafficking. Missouri is responding
through legislation, law enforcement and grassroots organizations that work to combat
and raise awareness about trafficking.
"The FBI has stated that St. Louis is one of the top 20 trafficking destinations in the
country. Because of our highway system, highway 70 and 44, we have a lot of
possibilities for that. So we do know its a problem," said Rep. Elijah Haahr, RSpringfield, chair of the Human Trafficking Task Force. "People attribute it to being an
East Coast, West Coast problem. Its a Midwestern problem, both sex trafficking and

labor trafficking.

Luebbert's story
As the friendship progressed and trust grew, Sean opened up to Luebbert about his career
as a modeling agent, and he said she had what it took for the industry. He offered her an
all-inclusive trip to Maui, Hawaii, for a photo shoot.
"You're the girl," Sean told her. "I was floored and stoked," Luebbert said. "It was an 'I
won the lottery' sort of feeling."
After signing a contract, Luebbert was on her way to a modeling career, or so she
thought. She only read the first couple pages of the lengthy contract and later realized
within those lines must have been an agreement to "sign her life away." Luebbert said
there were no red flags at this time.
The coercion continued as Luebbert was scammed into an industry that generates
approximately $150 billion globally, according to the International Labor Organization.
There are approximately 21 million slaves in the world today, which the International
Labor Organization says is a modest estimate.
Although modern slavery is pervasive internationally, it hits closer to home than many
might realize.
As Sean drove Luebbert to the airport, red flags began emerging as their plans switched
unexpectedly. Their planes were somehow changed and postponed. They missed their
flight. When they finally boarded the plane, Sean disappeared. On the second flight, the
airline switched. They suddenly needed to fly to Los Angeles. Then they missed their
flight again.
"In reality, he was probably getting things rigged up with the other people in on the gig,"
Luebbert said.
Finally, the two boarded a plane for Hawaii. After the flight, Luebbert never saw Sean
again.
A sleek, black car immediately met Luebbert at the airport, and she was told that Sean
was already at the resort. As she leaned forward in the car, Luebbert noticed five or six
pictures of girls. She said she thought they were models.
The car stopped outside a villa where Luebbert was left without any of her belongings.
The black car was gone, and Luebbert opened the villa door to find three older men,
about 65 years old. She was immediately injected in the arm and hip and suddenly felt
heavy, almost as if she was under an anesthetic.
At this villa, Luebbert said she was drugged, raped and beaten for three days by these
men who said they bought her from Sean. Luebbert said it was a vicious cycle: shots of

medicine, rape, the medicine would wear off, she would fight back and be beaten.
"I had no idea what that meant, that they bought me," Luebbert said. "I had no idea what
they were talking about."
Over time, Luebbert said she noticed a trash man outside that would come every now and
then. On the third day, she knew this man was her only hope for freedom. Luebbert
busted through the villa door to the trash man.
I literally attached my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, said
Luebbert. I repeatedly yelled to call 911.
Law enforcement arrived quickly and took her from the villa. But instead of relief,
Luebbert said she felt shame.
"I felt like I had done something wrong," she said, "like I had murdered somebody."
Luebbert was able to fly back to Missouri with the help of a mentor back home. She
immediately isolated herself in her apartment for about 13 days.
She was later diagnosed with curable diseases like gonorrhea and chlamydia, but some
more severe injuries from the abuse still afflict Luebbert. Severe arthritis from fractures
in her neck and spine creates problems in her spinal chord and nervous system.
Luebbert said she did not realize she had been trafficked until seven years after the
incident when she heard another survivor tell a story about being trafficked.
I couldnt talk to anyone. I ran out bawling because I realized what had happened to
me, said Luebbert.
She has been sharing her story with people for the past four years.
Each time I share it, I think I heal a little more, Luebbert said. One more person is
educated, and they will tell others. Thats why I share my story. Luebbert shared her
story on a panel at Stephens College in January for National Slavery and Human
Trafficking Prevention month.

Legislature
Four bills are making their way through the Missouri legislature that would raise
awareness for human trafficking and expand the definition of sex trafficking.
House Bill 2561, sponsored by Rep. Cloria Brown, R-St. Louis, would require various
establishments to hang posters with information about human trafficking and the National
Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline. It has been passed by the House as well as
the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence.
The establishments that would be required to hang the posters include hotels, motels or

other establishments that have been cited as a public nuisance for prostitution, such as
airports, train stations, emergency rooms, urgent care centers, women's health centers,
massage parlors and more.
The bill covers most avenues for traffickers to ensnare victims, like false pretenses of
massage parlors, brothels, escort services, street prostitution and Internet-based
prostitution.
"The hotline number can help, not dramatically, but even if it helps one percent, that's
one percent," Luebbert said.
A study conducted by the Urban Institute in March 2014 found almost all types of these
commercial sex venues in major cities in the U.S.
The institute studied Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, San Diego and
Washington, D.C. It found that as of 2007, the sex economys net worth was estimated
between $39.9 million and $290 million.
Sex trafficking takes place in public and private locations, including strip clubs,
according to the Office on Trafficking in Persons. Victims may start off dancing or
stripping in clubs and later be coerced into situations of prostitution and pornography.
The other three bills would broaden the definition of human trafficking to include
advertisement of a child in a commercial sex act.
House Bill 2332, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City, passed the House, the
Senate Judiciary and the Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and has been
placed on the Senate calendar. Senate Bill 804, sponsored by Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St.
Louis, has been passed by the Senate and referred to the House Select Committee on
Judiciary.
House Bill 1562, sponsored by Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, was passed by the
House, Senate and Fiscal Review. This is the second time Haahr has filed the bill.
"Our hope is that the bill will move fairly quickly through the Senate and then on to the
governors mansion," Haahr said. "Last year, it was on the Senate when the Senate shut
down at the end of session. It was probably my biggest disappointment from last
session."
Four bills moving through the legislature would aid police efforts to combat human
trafficking.
"(House Bill 2561) would be useful to us for notification purposes to our department if
the public is aware of instances of human trafficking," said Detective Sergeant Jatonya
Clayborn-Muldrow, supervisor of human trafficking in the St. Louis Police Department.
The other three bills would also be helpful because they will give the department more
opportunities to charge traffickers, she said. But the bills do not solve the problem.

"The issue is not just a sex worker issue, but it is a demographic issue as it relates to
income, gender, race," Clayborn-Muldrow said. "It's just a social economic problem that
begins way before human trafficking is involved."
Last year was the first for Missouri's Human Trafficking Task Force, chaired by Haahr,
which aims to identify long- and short-term strategies that can combat trafficking now
and in the future, Haahr said. The task force's 22 members range from legislators, law
enforcement, public safety officials, organization members and survivors.
(Human trafficking is) a problem everywhere, particularly anywhere that is on a major
highway," Haahr said. "One of the things about trafficking, one of the things that makes it
so attractive to a trafficker is, unlike a good like a drug that you sell and need to replace,
you can use a human body as many times as possible, and so its a reusable item. Thats
what draws that trafficker to that industry. Its extraordinarily difficult to break that
cycle.
Missouri passed some legislation in 2010 and 2011 to combat human trafficking.
Senate Bills 586 and 617 passed in 2010 to restrict sexually-oriented businesses because
they were linked to crimes like prostitution and sexual assault, according to a previous
Missourianreport.
The law requires adult businesses in Missouri to close from midnight to 6 a.m. Strip clubs
are allowed to stay open, but the law bans full nudity at all times and physical contact
between semi-nude dancers and patrons. Dancers must have their lower breasts and
buttocks covered at all times under the laws definition of semi-nude, according to the
Missourian article.
It also restricts new sexually-oriented businesses from setting up shop within 1,000 feet
of any school, house of worship, day care, library, public park, residence or another
sexually-oriented business.
House Bill 214 was passed in 2011 to authorize the Department of Public Safety to
establish procedures for identifying human trafficking victims and to develop training
programs. The bill also authorized establishing protocol for appropriate agencies on how
to educate employees on identifying and assisting victims.
The Department of Public Safety does not currently fund any anti-human trafficking
organizations, but some anti-trafficking organizations may receive grant money from the
department.
Despite these advancements, Luebbert said there are more areas that deserve attention,
such as education for younger generations and law enforcement.
"I do not feel that we are anywhere close to where we need to be," Luebbert said. "I do
believe were getting somewhere, I dont think were getting enough or fast enough, but
thats coming from someone who survived this."

Law enforcement
St. Louis police officers are required to attend training biannually, and human trafficking
is addressed during one of those sessions. The department also has detectives who
specialize in human trafficking and work with local organizations that combat trafficking,
Clayborn-Muldrow said.
Clayborn-Muldrow said trafficking is increasingly difficult to recognize.
"Human trafficking can be very difficult to identify," Clayborn-Muldrow said. "Most
communications and arrangements for contact are done via social media and over the
Internet."
Backpage and Craigslist are popular sites used by traffickers.
The department offers training for businesses, organizations, schools and other groups
interested in learning about human trafficking.
The class covers the definition of human trafficking, how to identify it and who to contact
if they believe human trafficking is taking place. Clayborn-Muldrow said the training is
more popular now that human trafficking receives more media attention.
Most identified victims of trafficking in St. Louis are black juvenile females.
"Everything," Clayborn-Muldrow answered when asked what more needs to be done.
"There is no one way to tackle the issue."
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri launched the Human
Trafficking Rescue Project in 2006 to combat trafficking. The project was created to help
identify victims, provide them with immediate protection and support and work with
survivors to further investigate and prosecute traffickers.
The operation has successfully investigated and convicted large human trafficking
scandals since 2009.
The Columbia Police Department offered a three-day training session on how to identify
human trafficking crimes in 2013, according to a previous Missourian report. The
training was hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Officers learned about the history of human trafficking, how to recognize trafficking and
how the community can help police identify trafficking situations.
But there has still been no institutionalized training for all levels of law enforcement in
Missouri.
"I think its safe to say everyone would say we cant be confident that theres a high level
of awareness among our law enforcement simply because as a state weve not been able
to offer training across the board to all those levels of state law enforcement," said

Nanette Ward, co-founder of the Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition.

Grassroots efforts
There are more than 15 organizations throughout Missouri that help raise awareness
about human trafficking and rehabilitate survivors.
The Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition has aided trafficking survivors
since April 2008. Nanette Ward, one of the coalition's founding members, has served
survivors ever since. The coalition works to abolish trafficking in central Missouri
through education, community outreach and supporting survivors.
The coalition has worked alongside legislators since 2011 by giving survivor testimonies
at public hearings and allocating funds for law enforcement training to the Department of
Public Safety. Members of the coalition have been a part of the Human Trafficking Task
Force and worked with Haahr on bills to include advertisement in the definition of sex
trafficking.
Ward said the current legislative measures are necessary pieces to trafficking prevention.
"That toll-free hotline has been shown to be a very effective tool, texting and calling.
Texting was put in place after the toll-free number, and that was a huge deal, specifically
in keeping the victims in mind who would not be able to just make a phone call but could
rather text more discreetly and safely," Ward said.
Most importantly, the posters that would be mandated through House Bill 2561 omit a
zero-tolerance policy for traffickers in Missouri, she said.
"Those posters to me are a symbol of saying, We do not tolerate this to the traffickers,"
Ward said. "Of course were wanting to make the community aware so they can call in
tips, and of course, number one, the victims who can reach out for help ... but also a
message to traffickers that this is not okay. ... I think thats a strong message for us to
have.
But the battle to end trafficking is far from over.
"We just have to keep at it," she said. "There's the funding issue, there's training issue,
there's protecting children who are trafficked. ... There's just a lot. ... It's gonna take a
long while."
Some law enforcement agencies have received some training from local organizations
that are able to offer it, Ward said. Law enforcement education is part of St. Louis Rescue
and Restores initiative to inform the public about sex trafficking.
We want to change the perception of law enforcement so they dont automatically look
at people engaged in commercial sex as criminals, said Amanda Mohl, organizer for St.
Louis Rescue and Restore. Victims may not be doing this on their own free will.

St. Louis Rescue and Restore trains law enforcement to ask more questions, build rapport
and take a victim-centered approach, Mohl said.
Mohl and Ward both agree that the key to identifying and preventing instances of sex
trafficking is education.
We are hoping that by teaching people what this is, what it looks like and who to talk to,
we can increase the amount of tips we receive. This will ultimately increase prosecutions
and bring large amounts of people out of this situation, Mohl said.
One of the biggest obstacles to engaging people in education about trafficking is their
disbelief in its relevance to their lives, Ward said.
"When you are able to ... give examples, the broad spectrum of very real examples within
Missouri, then again things begin to shift in peoples minds, and then it does become
relevant for them," Ward said. "Once you have that opportunity to educate, its really not
that hard for folks to realize that, yes, indeed its a very relevant issue for them.