Police: Mother of runaway teen helps bust human traffickers

TACOMA, Wash. -- The mother of a runaway teen is being credited with breaking up a Puget Sound human-trafficking ring.

Two suspects were in court on Tuesday, and a third turned himself in to Tacoma police Tuesday night.

Investigators have uncovered at least two teenage victims and believe there could be more.
Charging papers say the three operated a sophisticated human trafficking ring using motels along the I-5 corridor mainly in Tacoma, but stretching from Everett through Olympia.

Police say they use the marketing website backpage.com and craigslist to market the girls for sex. The mother of one of those victim's found her daughter's photo on backpage.com and took it upon herself to get her daughter back. (KomoNews.com, Jan 27, 2015)

Seattle updates law

SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council was unanimous Monday in changing the name of the crime of "patronizing a prostitute" to "sexual exploitation." Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes  asked for the name change to reflect "our more modern understanding that prostitution has a lot of unwilling participants."

The Seattle Times reports the crime remains a simple misdemeanor but the Washington Legislature is being asked to make it a gross misdemeanor. That would increase the maximum penalty from 90 days to a year in jail.  

The name change is “one more step in the City’s efforts to rewrite the prostitution narrative to target sex buyers more and prostituted persons less,”  (Associated Press, January 13, 2015)

Human Trafficking Event January 21st

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January is Human Trafficking Month

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Mother Pimps Own Daughter

‘EVERETT, Wash. -- A Snohomish County woman (Jennifer Lee Wilson)  is accused of sex-trafficking her own teen-age daughter, and relatives say it all started when the girl was just 11 years old.’ (KOMOnews December 29, 2014)

Pimp Gets Two Life Sentences

‘SAN ANTONIO - Glen Dukes, 45, whom prosecutors labeled a “pimp” during his trial on human trafficking charges, was sentenced to two life terms in prison late Thursday…Dukes is also awaiting trial on a capital murder charge in the killing of a prostitute.’ (KSAT October 14, 2014)