Recent child sex trafficking arrests made waves in Horry, advocates say. What’s next?
In the wake of one of the largest child sex trafficking busts in Horry County history, local advocates are excited to potentially see perpetrators held accountable.
But they say an increased focus of education and community investment remain key to start making a serious dent in these crimes.
Federal charges were announced July 15 against four men, including three from the Myrtle Beach area, for their alleged involvement in a child sex trafficking case. Theodore “Tripp” Woolings Bye III, 36, was specifically charged with sexual trafficking of a minor.
The crime of sex trafficking, by federal definition, occurs when a person “recruits, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, patronizes, or solicits another person to engage in commercial sex” by means of force, fraud or coercion. When a child is involved, the means of force, fraud of coercion do not need to be proven since the use of minors in commercial sex is prohibited by law.
There were 22 defendants in South Carolina facing a total of 75 pending human trafficking charges as of the end of 2020, according to Robert Kittle, a spokesman for the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
Louise Carson, executive director of the Children’s Recovery Center in Myrtle Beach, said any arrest for a perpetrator of child sexual abuse is great news, but unfortunately arrests don’t always result in serious repercussions.
Her nonprofit serves as a hub to guide child victims starting with the initial disclosure, so Carson said members of her team are frequently subpoenaed to testify at trials, but those cases rarely go to trial, as the perpetrator will instead accept a plea deal.
Need for housing
Shelbia Wiley, CEO of Engaging Minds Services, a local anti-trafficking nonprofit, agreed that “it’s about time” for abusers to be prosecuted, but there’s a lot more work to do.
“There’s help for (perpetrators) also,” she said. “How did they get to where they are today? Why did they traffic? ... We’ve got to think about the things that drive trafficking.”
Wiley said she is a sex trafficking survivor dating back to when she was 9 years old, but her trafficker died at a young age, and she was never able to confront him.
She noted that a lot of progress has been made in understanding the crime and providing needed services to victims; it took her years and an outpouring of community support to come to terms with what happened to her without the aid of a trauma-informed counselor.
One of the primary needs that remain, Wiley said, is safe housing, as there are no shelters for trafficking victims in Horry or Georgetown counties and just a handful of available beds for victims in South Carolina.
As a result, victims are often jailed or sent out of state for their safety, and that lack of options can prevent victims from seeking help, she said.
Engaging Minds Services is currently fundraising to build a 44-bed facility, a major project that will cost as much as $1.5 million to get up and running, partly because it would need to be patrolled around the clock to ensure the victims’ safety, according to Wiley.
Education and intervention
Wiley and Carson both stressed the need for education to ensure potential victims know how to escape and community members understand the signs and reporting protocols for a trafficking situation.
Horry County has led the state in reports of human trafficking the past two years, according to the annual statewide Human Trafficking Task Force reports, which law enforcement and advocates point to as a good sign because it means residents are displaying high awareness.
The recent arrests occurred after Bye was recognized by law enforcement in a video posted online by a local chapter of Parents Against Not Doing Anything, or P.A.N.D.A., a vigilante group that attempts to expose sexual predators via sting operations by posing as children online, arranging meet-ups with adults seeking sexual services, and confronting them while videotaping the interaction, according to the federal affidavit.
Emma Rush, education coordinator for the S.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said the “see something, say something” adage is key as the majority of law enforcement’s investigations are initiated by community tips, though she wouldn’t necessarily advise residents try to confront potential abusers in person because it could be dangerous.
Rush typically travels to schools across South Carolina to promote safe internet usage to students and parents, though the recent pandemic forced a lot of those presentations online during the past year.
She said children’s internet usage has always been trending up, and the pandemic likely exacerbated that increase, but rather than trying to use scare tactics about how dangerous the internet can be, Rush frames her conversations with students to empower them to take control of their online content and how to look out for their friends.
Beware of grooming
When speaking with parents, Rush said she encourages them to have regular conversations with their children about their internet usage to build rapport, ensuring their children are willing to tell them if anything they encounter online makes them uncomfortable.
She also stresses the importance of parents closely monitoring their children’s online life, specifically looking for signs of grooming — bonding with a child over a common interest or need and then attempting to isolate them from friends and family.
“The internet is really unique in that it could be anyone they’re talking to,” Rush said. “It’s extremely easy to lie on the internet.”
The recent Horry County sex trafficking case began when an Arizona man, Hart William Grow, pretended to be a 17-year-old girl living in Columbia, South Carolina in online chats with the underage victim, according to the federal affidavit.
Signs of human trafficking
Red flags that someone is a victim of human trafficking include:
Poor living and working conditions: Unable to come and go as they wish; unpaid or paid very little; owes a large debt they’re unable to pay off.
Poor mental health: Fearful, anxious, depressed; avoids eye contact; anxious around law enforcement.
Poor physical health: Appears malnourished; signs of physical or sexual abuse.
Lack of control: Few personal possessions; no bank account; unable to speak for themselves.
If you see any of these red flags, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
Source: Polaris
This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 10:03 AM.
