A 9-year-old boy was rescued from a human trafficker who was trying to sell him near the border.
The boy was kidnapped in downtown San Antonio and authorities were alerted, triggering a search.
Police officers searched for the boy until he was located inside a car outside of an H-E-B grocery store, reported SBG. The Department of Homeland Security assisted the San Antonio Police Department.
The suspect, who was trying to sell the boy in Laredo or Eagle Pass, was arrested.
Apart from being identified as a male, the alleged trafficker was not identified. No other information was available.
Human Trafficking
According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking “involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”
“Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide—including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations,” the department stated.
“Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.”
According to the agency, “Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. They look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political instability. The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.”
Trafficking in Texas
Texas was ranked first in the nation in 2018 for the number of active criminal human trafficking cases making their way through the federal court system, according to a report (pdf) recently released by the Human Trafficking Institute. Federal courts convicted 45 defendants in the state last year.
There were 74 active cases in the state, including 68 involving sex trafficking, the institute stated. Texas also ranked first in the country, along with New York, with 19 new criminal human trafficking cases; the national average was five per state.
Nationally, there were 171 new cases, 297 new defendants, and 346 convictions.
The convictions leveled 135 months in prison per defendant on average. Cases took on average 26 months to resolve.
While most criminal cases involved sex trafficking, most civil cases involved labor trafficking.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Reactions
People reacting to the news on SBG’s Facebook praised officers for finding the boy.
“Thank God and God bless our SAPD for being able to find the child before it was to late, prayers being sent,” one wrote.
“Not sure how you can say it was not seriously hurt. That brave child will be traumatized for the rest of his life. So glad he was rescued quickly,” another added.
“Great police work! For those of stating how can this happen? Please drive through downtown area and also go by the the areas under the bridges at night. There are children 8yrs and older out there hanging out w older kids. It’s sad to hear and even worse to see, how brutal the conditions can get for some families. Thank God there was an angel beside this child,” added another.
“Thank you Jesus!! A parents greatest fear, Thank you SAPD, this is the urgency we need for every child. The penalties should be severe for the kidnappers. keep your children close, but it’s sad that we have to live every minute with this kind of fear,” added yet another.
