The emerging story of three women who were kidnapped and imprisoned for a decade in a tight-knit Cleveland neighborhood seems too fantastic to be believed, and that’s one of the reasons predators are able to trap, traffic and enslave untold numbers of missing girls.
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By Christine Werling-Witkoske —- Women representing many different areas in Eastern Iowa gathered in Tipton recently to answer a call to restore dignity to victims and learn more about the issue of human trafficking from former state legislator Maggie Tinsman. Approximately 50 participants watched a video story of a young victim of trafficking [...]
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One of 17 people arrested in Coralville in April following a monthlong prostitution and human trafficking investigation faces new pimping and drug charges – seven months after his initial arrest. Dwan Xavier Moore, also known as “Santana,” was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of felony pimping and possession of a controlled substance, a serious misdemeanor. At [...]
continue »By The Gazette Editorial Board —- Kidnapped, traded and sold. Forced to have sex for money. Drugged and beaten into compliance — it’s not some grisly movie plot, but the real-life experiences of too many young Iowa teens. That’s why local law enforcement agencies are right to keep the heat on would-be human traffickers [...]
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CEDAR RAPIDS — It does happen here. Human trafficking, described by Johnson County sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Kinney as a form of modern-day slavery, is occurring in Iowa, and local law enforcement and non-governmental agencies are making it a priority to uncover the criminal behavior and fight it. At a panel discussion about human trafficking at [...]
continue »Although the human trafficking arrests that occurred in Iowa City this week were executed by federal agents and Illinois-based officers, local authorities know the problem well and view the sex trafficking of minors as a top priority. “We know it’s an issue,” Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Wednesday. “We know it goes on and [...]
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A trio accused of trafficking underage girls from Iowa City to Chicago for sex earlier this year are on their way to Chicago to face sex trafficking charges after waiving detention. Malik McKee, 19, and Shuntina McKee, 23, both of Iowa City and formerly of Country Club Hills, Ill., were arrested in Iowa City on [...]
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A 22-yar-old woman caught using her teenage sister in a sex trafficking business before she was arrested during a sting in Coralville in April that netted 16 people was sentenced Monday to five years on supervised probation. Melody McCullom, of Waterloo, pleaded guilty to pandering involving a minor and pimping, and she could have faced [...]
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CORALVILLE — Of 16 people charged with prostitution after a month-long investigation that culminated in an elaborate sting in Coralville in April, six recently pleaded guilty. Randy Cooper, 45, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty to a charge of prostitution on July 20; Lance P. Forbes, 42, of Iowa City, William Heitz, 51, of Walford, and [...]
continue »Gazette Editorial Board – Violence, coercion and manipulation might be the tools of a human trafficker’s trade, but there’s one other condition that helps modern-day slavery thrive here in Iowa, across the United States and throughout the world: Silence. It can be difficult to imagine women and girls, usually, trapped and exploited for labor or [...]
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