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One state lawmaker is working to combat the problem. Toledo ranks fourth in the nation for children in the sex trade. One state lawmaker is working to combat the problem. Those in Columbus are trying to come up with tougher laws to fight what they call "modern day slavery." In the underground world of human trafficking, Toledo is considered an "origin city." The FBI ranks it fourth in the nation for investigations, arrests and rescues of children forced into prostitution.
Dr. Celia Williamson, Second Chance Founder, says, "Our goal is to find out how many trafficking victims there are in Ohio, who they are and what their experiences are." Doctor Celia Williamson works to help rescue children from a life on the streets. She's also researching how many children are out there so law enforcement can get a better idea of what they're up against. "So I think that's very difficult to do when you can't really put your finger on how many victims are here and what they're going through," says Dr. Williamson. "It's really hard to detect. These threads go wide and deep." State Senator Teresa Fedor co-chairs a human trafficking study commission. It met yesterday in Columbus to go over the latest data from the FBI's "Innocence Lost" sweep. It was a sweep two months ago that landed 21 local people in jail and uncovered another 7 child victims.
It scratches the surface, but Fedor contends that Ohio needs tougher laws. Fedor says, "We are not able to truly prosecute and really help protect the victims with state and local laws, that the only hard-hitting law is when the federal government takes over the case. And they can't do it all." That's why a coalition at the state level is working to break up a hidden criminal network of human traffickers. Ohio was the fortieth state to pass a law against human trafficking. The governor signed it earlier this year, but Senator Fedor says prosecutors tell her it's simply not good enough. She plans to introduce new, tougher legislation thanks to this commission.
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