Pa. law enforcement, lawyers, legislators try to raise awareness of human trafficking

A 22-year-old man from Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. A 46-year-old Chinese national from Mt. Pleasant. A 26-year-old man from Buffalo, N.Y.

All three face charges of human trafficking in cases connected to the greater Pittsburgh area. And, on Monday, state police announced charges against three people accused of running a human trafficking ring in the Reading-Lancaster area.

It’s a problem on the minds of local law enforcement, lawyers and legislators.

“We’ve opened up several human trafficking cases in the past year and we get a lot of referrals from local police departments on potential trafficking cases,” said Tim Wolford, supervisory special agent at the Pittsburgh FBI office. “We’ve spoken with them and sat in on some roundtable discussions and tried to educate them on things they can report if they see.”

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Pennsylvania had 271 cases reported in 2019, the most recent available statistics.

One of the challenges in prosecuting human trafficking cases, Wolford said, is the need for a good working relationship with victims.

“There’s hesitancy on their part a lot of times, because they’ve been abused, they’ve been manipulated emotionally and mentally,” he said. “We do partner with victim specialists who are looking to help these victims.”

In the greater Miami area, Girl Power CEO Thema Campbell is one of those partners. Florida reported nearly 900 human trafficking cases in 2019 and, as Campbell’s nonprofit expanded beyond working with troubled teens, its members began coming into contact with more young women who were trafficking victims.

“A lot of the girls and women who are trafficked don’t want to talk about it,” Campbell said. “They just want it to go away, and that’s how a lot of sex traffickers are able to get away with it.”

Girl Power is $5.5 million into a $20 million capital fundraising campaign to build Mama Hattie’s House, named for Campbell’s grandmother and envisioned as a social, residential and educational complex that can serve as a temporary home for up to 40 women.

When it comes to justice for victims of human trafficking, former Allegheny County prosecutor Walter Bunt, now senior counsel at K&L Gates in Pittsburgh, wants to be part of the solution, and has helped create the firm’s anti-human-trafficking initiative.

“A local FBI agent was lamenting the issues of sex-trafficked victims, particularly individuals who are part of the LGBTQ community — that there was a need for action and an opportunity for firms like K&L Gates to get involved, representing youth trafficking victims,” Bunt said. “We agreed it would be a very good program for the firm to sponsor.”

Bunt said human trafficking is a “carefully chosen, closely- held criminal activity.”

“It’s one of the most difficult things to get witnesses to testify in,” he said.

K&L Gates Associate Michael Komo said the firm recently partnered with the local FBI to create Human TraffickingHelp.com.

“We’re trying to come at this longstanding problem from a different angle and partner with strategic organizations within the city,” Komo said. “We’ve done training with staff at the Central Outreach Wellness Center, working to help them recognize those people who may be trafficking victims. We’ve identified a dozen organizations to try and get the word out, and let them know we’re here to represent a client.”

Local legislators also are working to make the public aware of human trafficking in the region. On Wednesday Rep. Eric Davanzo, a South Huntingdon Republican representing the 58th District, will be joined by state police at the Turkeytown Fire Hall near West Newton in a seminar on the signs of human trafficking.

“During the last several months, the General Assembly worked hard to advance legislation to help victims of human trafficking,” Davanzo said.

Those include:

• House Bill 231, adding human trafficking to the existing law constituting unlawful contact with a minor when it involves sexual servitude or abuse.

• Act 32, prohibiting defendants in human trafficking cases from introducing evidence of a victim’s past sexual victimization or allegations.

• House Bill 1096, allowing lawsuits against traffickers to be brought either where the victim resides or where the crimes occurred.

In 2019, Pennsylvania was ranked fourth in the nation in the number of human trafficking cases, Davanzo said. “Pittsburgh was the top city for cases. I want to make sure people in the 58th District know how to protect themselves,” he said.

Wolford said, while many human trafficking victims come from abusive homes, many others do not, and advised parents to be aware of whom their children are talking to, particularly online.

“If your child suddenly has gifts or money and you don’t know where it’s coming from, those can be indicators,” Wolford said. “And social media plays a big role in how these kids are targeted. Traffickers will comment on photos and try to meet face to face.”

Komo said K&L Gates set up a 24-hour hotline not just for trafficking victims to seek justice but to connect with local social-service groups.

“We want as many people as possible to be aware,” he said.