Operation Stormy Nights

Last updated
Operation Stormy Nights
Part of "Innocence Lost"
Operation NameOperation Stormy Nights
part of"Innocence Lost"
TypeAnti-Human-Trafficking sting operation
Scopedomestic
Roster
Executed byU.S Federal Bureau of Investigation
Mission
TargetHuman traffickers
Timeline
Date executed2004
Results
Arrests12
Miscellaneous Resultsthe release of 23 female child (12-17yr) prostitutes
Accounting

Operation Stormy Nights was an early major anti-human-trafficking operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). [1] Operations took place in Oklahoma and brought to light organized crime networks trafficking female minors along United States Numbered Highways, where the girls were forced into prostitution to service truck drivers. [2]

Contents

Onset

The operation was undertaken in 2004 and resulted in the release of 23 girls from child prostitution. [3] Twelve pimps were arrested. [4] Most of these traffickers' victims were between 12 and 17 years of age. [5] Lieutenant Alan Prince said that operations like Stormy Nights "are difficult because the girls are always on the move... and when you find them, it's hard to talk to them." [6] This sting operation was headed by FBI agent Mike Beaver, who was working as an undercover agent. [7]

Sex trafficking

One of the human trafficking victims rescued in Stormy Nights was a girl named Angie. [1] Beaver called Angie "a normal, typical American teenager." [7] Angie, from Wichita, Kansas, was being forced into prostitution with another girl, Melissa, in the Midwestern United States. [8] They were both teenagers at the time. [9]

Short film

Angie was later interviewed in the documentary film Not My Life , in which Angie explains how she and Melissa were expected to engage in sexual intercourse with truck drivers at a truck stop and steal their money. Angie said that, while looking through one of these drivers' wallets, she found pictures of the man's grandchildren and realized that he was old enough to be her and Melissa's grandfather. She recounts this story disgustedly and almost crying, and says, "I wanted to die." [9] Beaver also appears in the film, saying, "It's not just truck drivers. We're seeing them purchased and abused by both white collar and blue collar individuals." [8] Robert Bilheimer, the film's director, said that Angie did not fit the stereotype for a girl at risk of being sexually trafficked: she was from the Heartland, attended a private school and, when her parents divorced, she began acting out as a way of seeking attention. A man abducted her when she was 12 years old, violated the Mann Act by transporting her to another state, and began trafficking her sexually. [7] While being trafficked, Angie was expected to engage in 40 sex acts every night, charging $20 for oral sex, $40 for vaginal sex, and $80 for both. [1] Her trafficker threatened to kill her if she refused to perform these acts. [7] Bilheimer said that the truck drivers Angie was expected to service either did not know or did not want to know what would happen to her if she did not give all of the money she earned to her pimp. [10]

Another girl who was rescued in Stormy Nights, one of Angie's friends, was sent to a district attorney in order to facilitate the preparation of her testimony, and the DA told the girl that he wouldn't talk to her until she had performed fellatio on him. [10] Bilheimer said that, while there is no way of being certain how many girls like Angie are being sexually trafficked, "diligent people out there have arrived at a bare minimum figure of... one hundred thousand girls, eight to fifteen [performing] ten sex acts a day", adding up to "a billion unpunished crimes of sexual violence on an annual basis." While Bilheimer interviewed Beaver at a Midwestern truck stop like the ones at which Angie was trafficked, someone wrote "Fuck you, asshole!" in the dirt on Beaver's car. Bilheimer said that this act demonstrated that many truck drivers hate law enforcement, although he said that "there are some good truckers out there," [10] like those who are part of Truckers Against Trafficking, an organization opposing human trafficking by raising awareness on the subject among truck drivers. [11] When news of Stormy Nights was made public, there was a strong public response across the country, so the FBI established "Innocence Lost", a new department working to free children from prostitution. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child prostitution</span> Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.

Prostitution in Moldova is an illegal activity but is widespread and socially acceptable. UNAIDS estimate there to be 12,000 prostitutes in the country.

Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United States</span>

In the United States, human trafficking tends to occur around international travel hubs with large immigrant populations, notably in California, Texas, and Georgia. Those trafficked include young children, teenagers, men, and women; victims can be domestic citizens or foreign nationals.

Sex trafficking in Thailand is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Kingdom of Thailand. Thailand is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sex trafficking. The sexual exploitation of children in Thailand is a problem. In Thailand, close to 40,000 children under the age of 16 are believed to be in the sex trade, working in clubs, bars, and brothels.

North Preston's Finest, also known as NPF, the Scotians, or the North Preston gang, is a gang of pimps based in North Preston, a satellite of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

<i>Nefarious: Merchant of Souls</i> 2011 film by Benjamin Nolot

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls is a 2011 American documentary film about modern human trafficking, specifically sexual slavery. Presented from a Christian worldview, Nefarious covers human trafficking in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, alternating interviews with re-enactments. Victims of trafficking talk about having been the objects of physical abuse and attempted murder. Several former prostitutes talk about their conversion to Christianity, escape from sexual oppression, and subsequent education or marriage. The film ends with the assertion that only Jesus can completely heal people from the horrors of sexual slavery.

Timea Nagy is a Canadian activist who has spoken on behalf of victims of human trafficking. She founded Walk With Me, a Toronto-based organization that aids survivors of trafficking. Nagy was featured in an anti-trafficking campaign by the Salvation Army in 2009. Her activism has drawn upon her own experience of forced prostitution in Canada.

<i>Not My Life</i> 2011 film by Robert Bilheimer

Not My Life is a 2011 American independent documentary film about human trafficking and contemporary slavery. The film was written, produced, and directed by Robert Bilheimer, who had been asked to make the film by Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Bilheimer planned Not My Life as the second installment in a trilogy, the first being A Closer Walk and the third being the unproduced Take Me Home. The title Not My Life came from a June 2009 interview with Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, who said that many people deny the reality of contemporary slavery because it is an uncomfortable truth, saying, "No, this is not my life."

Sheila White is an African-American anti–sex trafficking activist, and a former human trafficking victim herself, from The Bronx, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Nevada</span>

Human trafficking in Nevada is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Nevada, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in the United States</span>

Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.

Human trafficking in Georgia is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the US state of Georgia, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. Human trafficking includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Myanmar is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar is primarily a source and transit country for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Singapore is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of Singapore. Singapore is primarily a destination country for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Mongolia</span>

Sex trafficking in Mongolia is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Mongolia is a source, transit and destination country for sexually trafficked persons.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rhodes, p. 7.
  2. ↑ Louise Shelley (2010). Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press. p. 248. ISBN   978-1139489775.
  3. ↑ "Human Trafficking in Oklahoma". Harrah Police Department. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ Morgan Beard (December 9, 2011). "Human sex trafficking state issue". Oklahoma City Community College Pioneer. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  5. ↑ Alex Tresniowski (May 1, 2006). "Nightmare at the Truck Stop". People . 65 (17). Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Sex trafficking charges filed". The Topeka Capital-Journal . January 22, 2005. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 John Dankosky (April 17, 2013). Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery. Connecticut Public Radio. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Rhodes, p. 8.
  9. 1 2 Cindy Von Quednow (September 21, 2009). "Lucy Liu and Others Advocate Against Trafficking Sex, Domestic Workers". Kansas City infoZine. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 Rhodes, p. 46.
  11. ↑ "Not My Life Discussion Guide" (PDF). World Without Genocide. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ C.G. Niebank (September 7, 2011). "Human network". Oklahoma Gazette . Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.

Bibliography

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