“Many of these girls tend to gravitate toward prostitution to provide themselves the money to feed their addiction,” he said. But, it starts, in a lot of cases, in their house when they’re 11, 12, 13. They become dependent on that person who becomes their trafficker and he takes advantage of them. “A lot of women decide it is almost like the beginnings of a relationship. “What ends up happening is, if you have someone you trust and they give you something like that, it makes you dependent…inviting the next person to give you the same thing you are already addicted to” and forcing the victim to have sex to ‘earn’ it. “There was substance abuse before they ever got into being trafficked,” she said. We have heard from several women that the first time they were actually given heroin was by a parent or someone else they were very close to in their house. “They were at a point in their really young lives where they were taken advantage of. “Several of the women we have spoken to in the last few years have had the same story. “That element of dependency on the trafficker is one of the biggest problems” for victims, she explained. While not as common, male prostitution is not rare in the Cincinnati sex market, she said. They rely on getting their next fix from the recruiter, who gradually introduces them to the sex trade, Smith explained. Those who recruit women into sex trafficking often search for the drug-dependent young people, or recruit girls and guys to get them hooked on narcotics. We did an investigation (several years ago) that originated in the city that took us to a club called Deja Vu.” The Clermont County club, since closed, “had a very heavy Russian population of employees,” which stood out in the early days of significant human trafficking here. Young noted that while there are no Cincinnati strip clubs “there are plenty of indicators that there is likely to be some trafficking going on in those places. We pay attention to those types of things that aren’t the norm.” When you’re getting your nails done in say, Kenwood, and it’s $50, and then you go to this weird little salon and it costs $15 and people are working from the time the shop opens until it closes, that’s a signal that something isn’t right. You might see someone going in a back room and there’s a living space back there…. “We’re looking at places where women are getting their nails done, where people are going in and out. “Massage parlors are getting a lot more attention…because some are not what they seem to be on the surface,” Smith said. Customers can even flip through the Yellow Pages and look under escort services to “hook up.” Young said strip clubs offer another haven for sex trafficking although there are none in Cincinnati. Sex trafficking also is found in massage parlors and nail salons, said Cincinnati Police Officer Carrie Smith-a pseudonym for a female vice squad officer who at times works undercover. When a city hosts a big sporting event or convention, the traffickers descend on it with girls for hire-supply and demand at its most perverse. They base themselves in hotels” and advertise their presence on Craig’s List, social media sites and largely pornographic websites dedicated to the illicit trade. ”These are certainly traffickers in sex working a handful of days in each city and moving on. In even greater scope, another standard circuit runs from Chicago to Cincinnati to Nashville to Atlanta to New Orleans, Young said.
So, these are high-end prostitutes who were ‘tricked’ from city to city.”
He had a brother in Los Angeles “and there was some exchange between them. We have had an investigation that involved a guy… moving his girls from Cincinnati to Louisville to Indianapolis to Columbus to Dayton and back,” Young said. “A circuit exists… and we have been exposed to it here in Cincinnati. As interstate hubs, Cincinnati and Dayton are not immune and, police vice control officers agree, this courage is among the most difficult of crimes to combat.Ĭincinnati Vice Squad Specialist Nate Young said sex trafficking runs the gamut from organized crime to the neighborhood pimp offering his small harem of women to willing customers. Sadly, not all of this commerce is legal and, surprisingly, human trafficking ranks third behind drugs and guns in generating illegal revenue, law enforcement officials said. Pulsing along these multilane ribbons are trucks and vans and automobiles-all serving the travel needs of countless businesses and their customers-moving goods from supplier to user. The interstate highway system provides vital arteries for commerce.
#Deja vu strip club series#
Part three of a series on a pressing issue for our region, and on the Catholic response to it.
Editor’s Note: This article appeared in January 2018
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