U.S. Attorney, Iowa DOT highlight human trafficking crimes at event

By Trish Mehaffey, The Gazette

EVANSDALE - As officials wrapped up National Slavery and Human Traffic Prevention month, Iowa Department of Transportation officers teamed up Friday with U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau for a special awareness event at the Flying J truck plaza.

Techau and the officers were handing out wallet cards and window decals with information about truckersagainsttrafficking.org, including a hotline number to leave anonymous tips.

Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement Chief David Lorenzen, who also serves on the Truckers Against Trafficking national board, said IDOT has been conducting similar events at various truck stops for over a year, and the truckers have been supportive and cooperative with their efforts. He said human trafficking is a mobile business, and while the actual crime may not be committed at truck stops, the drivers are in a position to spot suspicious activity or even overhear traffickers traveling through who are attempting to sell their victims.

Techau said human trafficking/sex trade crimes are a priority for the Department of Justice, as well as for his office in the Northern District. The crime doesn't just occur in large cities. There have been far too many recent crimes in Iowa, a state that has two of the nation's busiest interstates, Interstate 80 and 35.

Techau pointed out a recent case earlier this month where a couple from Clive was arrested and charged in Virginia for kidnapping a Lacona woman. According to authorities, the woman had been abducted and forced to perform sexual acts on her male kidnapper and with an unknown man from a Craigslist ad. The woman had injuries consistent with torture and sexual abuse.

One of the more severe cases in the Northern District involved a Wisconsin man, Robert Jackson, 32, who transported teenage girls across state lines to engage in prostitution. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Jackson transported two girls, ages 15 and 17, from Milwaukee to Cedar Rapids for prostitution in 2013, according to court documents. He threatened to kill the 15-year-old girl and her family if she attempted to leave him. In other incident, Jackson beat the 15-year-old with a belt and sexually assaulted her and also beat the 17-year-old with his fists.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Duax, who works in the Sioux City office of the Northern District, said there was recent case of a man from Storm Lake who solicited a 14-year-old girl through an ad on Craigslist.

'I don't know if offenses have increased but human trafficking crimes are more prevalent now with the Internet and ads on back pages,” Duax said. 'It used to be harder to detect, and in the past (traffickers) had to put themselves at risk because they had to go out and recruit on the street.”

Duax said what's most surprising is the statistics of victims of the sex trade are now ages 12-15. Many times they are runaways and more 'eyes and ears” out there, like truck drivers, can help prevent these crimes.

'The sex trade is the second highest profit crime next to the drug trade,” Techau said.

Some human trafficking statistics:

l Over 800 cases, between fiscal years 2009-14, prosecuted for labor/sex trafficking

l 17 human trafficking cases reported in 2014, 94 calls related to Iowa

l 379 calls and 82 cases related to Iowa from 2007-14

Sources: DOJ's Human Trafficking Prevention Unit and Child Exploitation and Obsenity Division and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, an anti-trafficking hotline and resource center.