OHIO — Following Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s announcement Monday of 177 arrests tied to a human trafficking sting, News Center 7 spoke with an expert about the growing problem in Ohio and across the country.
Tonya Folks, human trafficking liaison for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, explained that it’s hard to quantify exactly how much human trafficking takes place, because, she said, “It’s a hidden activity.”
Folks said, while 20 years ago, warning signs and suspicious situations might be easier to spot out in public, the internet has taken the crime farther underground and out of the eye of most people.
But she also said the victim is most likely to know the suspect.
“People are looking at strangers as the bad guy – the big bad wolf, who’s going to abduct their child and sell them into sex trafficking,” Folks said. “That is not how it happens. Sex trafficking….starts with a relationship.”
Folks said the two biggest threats to human trafficking are a young person’s cell phone, and their best friend. The last part, she explained: “Because the relationship is there,” she said. “And that’s what you need to season someone, to groom them into sex trafficking. They have to be led by someone they know and trust.”
She added, she sees cases where teens are lured into trafficking through someone they met on online apps.
She recommends a few key steps for parents to take to protect their children:
- No phones in the bedroom or bathroom. “If you’re trying to protect your child, you can start there,” Folks said.
- No phones after 10pm
- Know your child’s passwords to every app on their phone, and, “Check it all the time,” she said.
- Know your child’s friends…and others they are around. “You may know their best friends and their best friend’s parents, but do you know the neighbor? Do you know the uncle who comes over?” she said.
Suspicious activity related to possible human trafficking can always be reported to the National 24/7 Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.