Tag: sex trafficking

Female Survivors of Child Sex Trafficking Allegedly Experienced More Sexual Abuse at Texas Healing Shelter 

A state-funded Texas shelter for young female victims of sex trafficking is under investigation after a former employee allegedly coerced two of its residents into creating “sexual exploitation material” for sale, the facility confirmed in a statement Thursday.

Operators of The Refuge Ranch in Bastrop, which serves females ages 14-19, said they fired the employee after the allegations came to light on Jan. 24, and “immediately” alerted the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Family and Protective Services.

An investigation has since revealed more victims who alleged they were trafficked by the same ex-employee, and that others who remained employed by the facility appeared to be involved as well, according to a court document obtained by Austin TV station KXAN.

In an emergency court hearing Thursday called by U.S. District Court Judge Janis Jack, nine perpetrators were alleged to have victimized seven children, ages 11-17, who remained in the facility for over a month after the claims were first reported, according to the Texas Tribune.

One staff member of The Refuge Ranch, who was not identified, has been arrested, KXAN reports.

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Juror No. 50 Pleads the Fifth, Is Granted Immunity in Maxwell Trial

Juror No. 50, who’s at the center of a possible mistrial in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking case, appeared in federal court on March 8 where he plead the Fifth Amendment—the Constitutional right to refuse to answer questions in order to avoid incriminating himself.

The Honorable Alison J. Nathan, the judge who presided over the case in December, granted him immunity from prosecution with the exception of perjury.

“You need to answer my questions today and you need to answer truthfully,” she instructed the juror, who chose not to disclose his actual name.

Soon after the jury’s Dec. 29 guilty verdict on five of six counts of sex trafficking of a minor, Juror No. 50 stated publicly he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and had made this known to his fellow jurors during deliberations.

At the center of the issue is the questionnaire potential jurors filled out prior to selection.

Juror No. 50 did not accurately answer questions relating to his childhood, sexual abuse at the hands of a stepbrother and his friend, prompting Maxwell’s defense to push for a new trial.

Nathan read the pertinent questions with his responses, which were written on Nov.4, 2021, the first day he reported for jury duty.

Juror No. 50 selected “no” to the first question that referred to sexual abuse, asking if he, a friend, or a family member had ever been a victim of it.

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‘There was rape on a regular basis.’ How Hugh Hefner’s friends ran their own Playboy ‘mini mansions’ with ‘reject’ Playmates promised fake modeling contracts before they were ‘traded like cattle’ to rich and powerful men

Teenage girls as young as 16 were trafficked, drugged, beaten, groomed for prostitution, and raped at ‘mini mansions’ owned by Hugh Hefner’s friends and frequented by celebrities, a former president and state governor, Playboy insiders claim in interviews with DailyMail.com.

Witnesses said that wannabe ‘playmates’ who didn’t pass auditions at the Playboy Mansion would be housed at a network of Beverly Hills homes where they were fed false promises of modeling contracts and movie roles while ‘traded like cattle’ between rich and powerful men.

Jennifer Saginor grew up around the glamorous Playboy Mansion of the 1990s and 2000s.

As the daughter of Dr. Mark Saginor, Hefner’s close friend and personal physician dubbed ‘Dr. Feelgood’ over his reported proclivity for prescribing Quaalude pills, she says she was exposed to the secret, dark side of the Playboy enterprise from a young age.

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Infamous ‘CHAZ’ Leader, Celebrated by MSM, Now Accused of Sick Sex Crimes

Social justice. What does it mean? It depends on whom you ask.

If you ask Solomon “Raz” Simone, the media proclaimed “warlord” of the 2020 Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone — the shortlived CHAZ of Seattle, Washington — “social justice” would include a “repurposing” of police, according to an interview Simone gave to Forbes in June.

Simone said he sees community-based self-policing as a viable alternative to traditional law enforcement. This might work out well for Simone. One major responsibility of a warlord is self-policing. In CHAZ, Simone played the part of top cop (even if he demurred at being called a “warlord.”)

But who watches the watchmen? Five women have now filed suit against Simone, a Seattle rapper of some acclaim, and four of them are accusing him of sex-trafficking, according to KUOW-FM in Seattle. Each of the women is seeking $1 million in damages. Simone denies the allegations and, like everybody else in America, is innocent until proven guilty.

But Simone is no stranger to sex and violence. He was there at the beginning of the CHAZ  movement when six blocks of Seattle were occupied after Seattle police were ordered to abandon the East Precinct due to riots sparked by the death of George Floyd, as reported in  The Post Millennial.

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Alan Dershowitz reportedly lobbied Trump to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell before trial

Former Jeffrey Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz lobbied then-President Donald Trump to pardon madam Ghislaine Maxwell before she could face trial, according to a report.

The 83-year-old lawyer — himself long accused of having sex with one of late pedophile Epstein’s teen accusers — pushed for the pardon after UK media heiress Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 for the sex-trafficking crimes she was convicted of last month, the Times of London said.

The retired Harvard law professor was able to use his close ties to Trump, whom he also represented during his impeachment trial, the paper said.

One of the convicted madam’s brothers, Ian Maxwell, 65, confirmed to the UK paper that he had discussed the possibility of clemency with Dershowitz, who got Epstein his controversial wrist-slap 2008 plea deal on sex offenses with underage girls

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Ghislaine Maxwell could file for mistrial if juror did not reveal his own childhood abuse when selected

Ghislaine Maxwell could file for a mistrial after a juror revealed he used his own experience of childhood sexual abuse to sway deliberations — and cannot remember if he revealed his past during jury selection, according to reports.

Juror Scotty David, using only his first and middle names, admitted to Reuters that he only opened up about his own abuse during deliberations when others questioned the credibility of two of the women testifying against Jeffrey Epstein’s madam.

He earlier told the Independent that the room went silent when he detailed his past, telling them that — like the witnesses — he could only remember some of the details. 

He also told jurors how he’d waited until high school before telling anyone about his abuse, in an effort to justify why the witnesses, Jane and Carolyn, may not have come forward earlier.

David, a 35-year-old Manhattan resident, admitted in both interviews that his confession influenced the deliberations that saw Maxwell, 60, convicted and facing up to 65 years in prison.

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Prince Andrew Accuser’s Secret Deal With Jeffrey Epstein To Be Made Public

The agreement between Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public for the first time.

The unveiling of the 2009 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre, which will be released on Monday, could be hugely impactful when it comes to the ongoing civil case against the Duke of York.

Prince Andrew’s lawyers will be looking to leverage the settlement to release him from liability in the case brought by Giuffre, who has accused the member of the British Royal Family of sexual assault when she was 17 years old.

Andrew Brettler, who represents Prince Andrew, previously told a New York hearing the agreement “releases Prince Andrew and others from any purported liability arising from the claims Ms Giuffre asserted against Prince Andrew here,” the BBC reported.

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In 2022, More Humans, Including Children are Enslaved Than Ever Before in History—We Must Do Better

Despite massive leaps and bounds in technology and quality of life across the planet, there is still a very dark problem and it is hiding in plain sight. Slavery. According to the most recent data, there are over 40 million people in slavery with 1 in 4 of them being children. Its scope is massive and so are its profits — raking in around $150 billion annually.

An estimated 40.3 million people are in some form of slavery in 167 countries around the world, according to the Global Slavery Index published by the Walk Free Foundation. This number is the highest it has ever been.

An article published in Psychology Today reminds us of the ominous state of the free world. “Never before in human history have this many people been enslaved,” write Jenny Hwang and Shayne Moore in their report on the heart-rending data about child trafficking.

In the US, child trafficking is a growing problem in all 50 states. Children, young girls—some as young as 9 years old—are being bought and sold for sex in America. The average age for a young woman being sold for sex is now 13 years old.

As the recent verdict in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial shows us, the problem goes all the way to the top.

Sex trafficking—especially when it comes to the buying and selling of young girls—has become big business in America, the fastest growing business in organized crime and the second most-lucrative commodity traded illegally after drugs and guns.

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