‘Monsters’ in Our Community

Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, YCSO Commander Tom Boelts, Prescott Police Detective Lorraine Zannini, Yavapai Family Advocacy Center Director Missy Sikora and Sedona psychologist Carol Gandolfo were among those who presented information and answered questions from the audience.

Andrea Kadar, a Sedona area activist who organized the event, said she and a group of area residents heard about 2014 sex trafficking sting operations and arrests that highlighted trafficking as a local problem. The group received training from Shared Hope, a national organization that equips first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to rescue child trafficking victims. They also received training from local law enforcement and have since worked to educate the public and parents through presentations such as the one in Sedona.

Cmdr. Boelts traveled to Delaware in 2013 to attend a presentation by Shared Hope, where he learned that child sex trafficking victims in the United States are, on average, 14-18 years old, and have a life expectancy of just 25. He then wanted to find out how big the problem was in Yavapai County. The Sheriff’s Office partnered with Prescott Police and other local agencies to do a series of sting operations in which they posted an online profile of a young person. They were shocked at the number of predators who responded.

In just two 2014 stings, officers arrested 16 men. The next step was to find out how to stop them. Law enforcement asked the arrestees what would deter them, from longer prison sentences to fines and more.

“The No. 1 answer that these men said would have prevented them from trying to buy sex from a kid was if their mug shot had been published in the newspaper,” Boelts said. “So, the morning after the operation closed down, we published the photographs of those guys who were arrested.”

The result was a tremendous decrease in the phone calls from the local area. “We saw that we were achieving that desired effect, which was to reduce the demand,” Boelts said. While the knowledge of law enforcement efforts has decreased the number of local responses to sting operations, police still get calls from outside the area and many are arrested.

Det. Lorraine Zannini said more recent stings apprehended a 29-year-old Chino Valley man allegedly seeking sex with a 13 year old, a 42-year-old Rimrock man who was allegedly soliciting a 14 year old and attempting to lure her into a hotel room, a 31-year-old man who was allegedly seeking sex acts with a 5 year old and a 67-year-old man allegedly pursuing 7 and 11 year olds, among others.

Boelts said law enforcement agencies work constantly to try to stay ahead. “The things that people ask for, the ages they ask for – you think you’ve seen or heard everything, and then you read some of these chats,” he said.

Zannini strictly works on sexual assault and human trafficking cases. Her role is “reactionary,” she said, after the crime has been committed. But she wanted to do something to prevent trafficking before it happens. She said the answer lies with everyone who has a child or teenager in their lives.

Zannini says the increase in social media use is one of biggest dangers to children. She wanted to take her knowledge and put it into the hands of parents and guardians, so she developed a program called Operation App-Rehension, which she presents for free to any organization or group. She has a website where adults can find information on the latest apps kids are using and where predators can find them.

Zannini has presented the program to school resource officers, tribes and at human trafficking summits, “to anyone who has parents or guardians in their organization, which I would venture is almost all of them,” she said.

Social media, she says, is evolving so quickly that she must constantly update her presentations. She and other presenters emphasized that even in small communities, sex trafficking happens and parents need to be aware.

One of the biggest ways children are exposed to predators is through their phones. “I tell my parents that ask me, ‘When should I get my kid a smartphone?’ I say to them, you should get your kid a smartphone when you’re ready for them to see porn, because they will.’ It has infiltrated everything.”

She urged parents and organizations to take advantage of the App-Rehension program to educate themselves about the dangers of what their children are exposed to on social media.

Missy Sikora has worked with victims of sex trafficking for more than 35 years. She cautioned that sexual predators work hard at their “jobs.”

“These people are professional exploiters of children. They’re either going to get these kids and exploit them or make money off them.”

Sikora said YFAC supported more than 1,300 children and adults from Yavapai County last year – almost 65% were children – victims of sexual assault, rape, violence, dating violence or human trafficking.

She emphasized that parents must know what apps their kids have on their smartphones and what they are accessing on the Internet. She says ground rules are crucial for children using social media, including an agreement that parents always have access to their children’s phone and apps.

“You must realize that any time you have a screen in front of a child that has Internet access, predators have access to your child. That’s 100% across the board,” she said.

Sheriff David Rhodes told the audience that no one will ever be able to protect children as well as engaged parents and guardians can. “My advice for parents is to talk to your kids early and often. Know what apps they’re using and with whom they’re communicating. Make sure they know they can come to you. You have monsters that live in your communities, among you, who secretly prey on the most vulnerable people and pay money to ruin their lives. We need to be focused on prevention.”

Rhodes said Yavapai County continues to receive grant funding to deter human trafficking. “We use that money to hire detectives. They’re focused on finding those people who are trying to hire sex or trying to traffic these children, so they spend their time posting ads, chatting, luring, setting up stings and doing cases.”

Rhodes said in the past 18 months, Yavapai County law enforcement has worked 50 cases and made 20 arrests of people who were allegedly trying to purchase a child for sex. “The entire goal here, which has been my belief during my 31 years in this business and certainly my five years as sheriff, is that we want to make Yavapai County the safest place for everybody, particularly children. And the way that you do that is not putting up with an ounce of this.” QCBN

By Heidi Dahms Foster, QCBN

For more information, local law enforcement agencies offer these resources: App-Rehension: https://lorrainezannini.wixsite.com/operation-app-rehens and Shared Hope International: sharedhope.org

Photo by Heidi Dahms Foster: Law enforcement officers and family advocacy professionals shared insights and prevention tools to help families recognize signs of exploitation and keep kids safe.