Florida: A Child Sex Trafficking Hub?
Is DeSantis’ government involved?
Foster Care a cover for Sex Trafficking of children?
According to a stunning new report published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel Monday, Florida’s foster care system has for years proven to be a breeding ground for sex trafficking victims, placing vulnerable kids and teens directly in the path of drug use, sexual and physical violence and, often, death. More damning, though, is the revelation that Florida’s elected officials have long been well aware of the crisis and have taken little to no action to save the state’s most at-risk girls.
The Sentinel’s analysis of data from Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) showed that when a girl enters the state’s welfare system, her chances of being sex trafficked increase. Already a “top venue” for trafficking due to high volume of tourists and hotels, Florida has seen alarming increases in reports of child sex trafficking to the Florida Abuse Hotline, with 3,182 reports last year alone. Despite the increased risk, as of last month, the Sentinelreports there are just 18 family foster homes approved to care for trafficking victims in the entire state, and documents reviewed by the Sentinel show the state has for years known that sex traffickers specifically target underaged girls within its care.
With an opportunity to make good on a promise parroted to voters for years, DeSantis and co. looked the other way, leaving a staggering number of girls in foster care to succumb to a fate both predictable and avoidable.
Source: https://jezebel.com/floridas-child-welfare-system-is-found-to-be-complicit-1849827559
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/bMpyx
A yearlong investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel exposed the complicity of Florida’s child welfare system in underage sex trafficking, through evidence found in government records, state and federal lawsuits, research studies, and interviews with victims and family members.
The Sun Sentinel found:
When Florida’s child welfare system takes in a girl, the odds she will be trafficked for sex increase.
Florida exploited a loophole so it could keep sending vulnerable girls to group homes, despite a federal law that discourages their use. Teen girls at those homes have been preyed on by traffickers who sometimes “shark” the block, waiting for a girl to walk to the corner store.
Young people with a history of commercial sexual exploitation run away from group homes at an alarming rate, and those runaways are even more susceptible to sex trafficking. Yet, once they’re gone, no one tries very hard to find them, and nothing in Florida law requires them to.
“They’re looking for girls who no one’s looking out for, and that is pretty much a description of girls in foster care,” said Joan Reid, a University of South Florida researcher and associate professor who has documented the connection between foster care and child sex trafficking.
Florida is notorious for its rampant sex trafficking and is a tourist state packed with hotels, the top venue for this crime.
But as of Oct. 21, there were only 18 family foster homes in the entire state that are approved to care for a trafficking victim.
The latest annual report on trafficked Florida foster children, by the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, found that 21% of the 377 verified child trafficking victims in 2021 were in DCF foster care.
“Group homes within Florida’s child welfare system have been an open market for human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of minor children for far too long,” the lawsuit claims.
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/RBNF5
As we have reported numerous times over the years, the #1 source for child trafficking in the United States is the corrupt child welfare program that funds foster care and adoptions in the U.S. You can learn more about this corrupt system of child trafficking that imperils all of the nation’s children every day on our Medical Kidnapping website.
Thanks to some good local reporting in Florida, many families who have had their children taken away from them illegally by the State of Florida are fighting back and suing the State of Florida, naming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families Shevaun Harris, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Health Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Bureau Chief of the Florida Department of Health Child Protection Team Patricia Armstrong, and Executive Director of the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program Attorney Dennis Moore as defendants in the case. (Source.)
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/mqskx
Florida Human Trafficking Stats
Source: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/statistics/florida
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/Q3jAr
Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/human-trafficking-statistics-by-state
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/1jGqE
More than a fifth of human trafficking victims in Florida are children and the majority are female.
Florida has been known as a hotbed for human trafficking because of the state’s economy. With Florida’s booming agriculture and tourism industries
Source: https://www.wfla.com/news/human-trafficking-continues-to-be-a-growing-problem-in-florida/
Archive Copy: https://archive.ph/UyYyj
Closing
Florida remains a busy human trafficking hub. Child sex trafficking is big business. Could our Tourism and Theme Park businesses be huge components into not only the attraction of sex predators but also why Florida Government has done so little to protect our children?
Florida has had a serious problem with child sex trafficking for decades. DeSantis has done next to nothing to stop it. If not for our County sheriffs, there would be very few arrests. Priorities must be observed, and children are not one of DeSantis’ priorities, despite his Media image.