The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

 

A 17-year-old girl, who police say had been reported missing from Brooklyn was located by a nonprofit representative at the Metro Motel in the Wakefield section of The Bronx on Saturday, July 23. The nonprofit representative, whose name we are not disclosing for security reasons, but who spoke with Norwood News directly about the incident, said the teen is a likely sex trafficking victim, one of millions caught up in an estimated, billion-dollar, global industry.

 

The nonprofit works with victims and survivors of both human trafficking and domestic violence, providing both support services and education on the dangers of falling prey to pimps who target and profit from vulnerable people. The representative said without a more holistic approach in terms of funding and education to tackling human trafficking in the borough, it will continue to silently decimate the next generation of Bronxites.

 

The 17-year-old girl’s mother, whose identity we are also withholding for privacy and security reasons, had driven to the Wakefield location from Brooklyn on the day in question. She told Norwood News, “This morning, I got a call saying that they spotted my daughter.” Asked if she had been reported missing to police, the mother said, “She’s been a runaway. I’ve been calling the precincts, telling them. They come out and they do absolutely nothing.”

 

The girl’s mother said when she contacted the NYPD about her daughter’s whereabouts, officers allegedly told her that they knew her daughter, that she was safe, and that she answered her phone when they checked in with her. “So, nobody gives you no explanation,” the mom said. “They don’t want to do nothin’. This is my second time going through this,” the frustrated parent added.

 

She went on to explain that when she was alerted by the nonprofit to her daughter’s sighting in The Bronx, she drove to the Metro Motel, located at 691 East 241st Street in the 47th precinct. The mom explained that she initially tried to call her daughter from outside the location but her daughter would hang up the phone, adding that she could hear commotion in the background when they called.

 

She said she later entered the motel, showed staff a photo of her daughter, and asked them, “Have you seen this girl?” She said they allegedly replied, “No.” She alleged they asked her, “Do you know what room she’s in?” The mother said she told them she didn’t, at which point she said they allegedly told her, “Call her phone.”

 

The mother said she told the hotel staff that she had come all the way from Brooklyn, that she was tired and wanted to lay down for a while, and that her daughter had told her she had a room. She said the hotel staff allegedly asked her if she had ID, and when she said she did, she said they allegedly told her she could just rent a room. The mom said she asked them why she would rent a room if her daughter already had a room.

 

Eventually, the mom said she managed to reach her daughter by phone, at which point she said she started blowing the horn of the car to signal to her daughter that she was physically outside and wanted to see her. The mom said they offered to take her daughter for pancakes, and her daughter agreed.

 

The mom said she and the nonprofit representative had, at that stage, already contacted the police. “The cops come, after three phone calls telling them that a minor is in there,” the mom said, referring to the motel. “The cops refused to do anything with the minor pimp, with the girl that she is with. They wouldn’t lock the girl [pimp] up that’s being posted [on an online ad] with my daughter.” She added again, “They absolutely do nothin’.” Then, with a deep sigh, she added, “So, this is the life the parents live.”

 

The seemingly exhausted mom was speaking to Norwood News outside the motel on the morning in question, as attempts were being made to coax the 17-year-old to leave the location and accept medical and other assistance. An ambulance was seen parked outside the motel. The young teen appeared somewhat agitated and distressed, dollar bills of varying amounts visibly stuffed inside her clothing.

 

Slurring her words very slightly, she seemed to be in conflict with her mom over the next course of action. As part of a short outburst, she mentioned “selling my body,” indicated her opposition to accompanying her mom anywhere, and alluded to an apparent past difficult experience with drug treatment/counseling.

 

Some time later, after having had some food at another location in nearby Kingsbridge, located within the 50th precinct, the teen finally agreed to accept medical assistance offered by EMTs and, accompanied by her mom, agreed to go to an area hospital for follow-up treatment and support services.

 

Norwood News later contacted the hotel a number of times for comment on the incident and asked to speak with the manager. Despite leaving messages with our contact information, our calls were not returned.

 

Separately, we also reached out to the NYPD press office, as is the defined process and to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSI) [since sex trafficking is a federal crime] to inquire about the circumstances of the incident, and in order to establish the details of any arrests or charges. We did not receive an immediate response from HSI.

 

On the day in question, Norwood News witnessed an NYPD officer tell the victim’s mother that he had been trying to get a hold of a Detective Fernandez from the 49th precinct who was apparently familiar with the situation. The girl’s mother clarified that it was not this detective but a female detective/officer who was apparently the appropriate contact. However, when contacted by Norwood News later for a copy of the official incident report, the NYPD press office told us, “There is no complaint report on file for the date, location and date provided in your inquiry.”

 

We therefore reached out to the 47th Precinct directly since Wakefield falls within that precinct, and asked for details of the incident report. We did not receive an immediate response. We therefore contacted the NYPD press office once again and asked if they had an incident report on file for the second Kingsbridge location in the 50th precinct. A spokesperson replied, saying, “There is no complaint report on file for the date location and date provided in your inquiry.”

 

Since an ambulance had also been present at the scene on the day in question, we contacted EMS/FDNY for their official incident report. We did not receive an immediate response. Norwood News later contacted the NYPD press office a third time and asked if the agency had a missing person’s report on file for a 17-year-old girl from Brooklyn and provided her name. An NYPD spokesperson replied, saying, “[Girl’s name] returned home on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.”

 

Thank you @GovKathyHochul for signing into law our bill with @CatalinaCruzNY to combat the scourge of human trafficking by requiring establishments serving liquor to post visible signage with contact info for the trafficking hotline. This is long-overdue and will help save lives. pic.twitter.com/19XW6Tch0f

— Jamaal T. Bailey (@jamaaltbailey) July 22, 2022

 

The nonprofit representative who was present on the day in question said the incident was not untypical of the many other days she spends trying to extricate young girls from sex trafficking rings, which she said are often run by known gang members in the borough. In December 2020, Norwood News reported how nine members of the Bloods gang were charged with operating a sex trafficking ring in multiple Bronx motels. Included in the charges was the sex trafficking of a child.

 

In the context of the announcement at that time, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said, “These defendants, who are allegedly part of the Hunts Point Family Bloods subset, ran a sex trafficking ring from Bronx motels and manipulated their victims through drugs and violence. The defendants used social media to get to the victims, preying on teens and young women.” She added, “My human trafficking unit is helping these victims through the trauma and will continue to dismantle these terrible operations that demean and damage victims.”

 

Meanwhile, the nonprofit representative also told us she does her best to house victims of human trafficking temporarily, in agreement with Homeland Security representatives, who she said sometimes ask her if she can keep them for longer. She said it all costs money the longer it goes on and that her organization has limited resources to tackle the problem. It’s also dangerous work, given the profile of the gang members involved, and the representative said she has no protection when carrying out her intervention work.

 

She went on to say that more legislation and funding was needed to assist survivors in starting a new life in a new neighborhood after an intervention takes place, and survivors receive the necessary support and counseling they need to move forward. She said this was to prevent survivors from falling prey once again to the same gang members who operate in the same neighborhoods. Asked if she meant a program similar to a witness protection program, she said, “Yes.” Norwood News raised these points with Homeland Security and asked for a comment. As above, we did not receive an immediate response.

 

Meanwhile, as reported, other calls have been made by a Bronx-based nonprofit working with victims of human trafficking to pass a law requiring silent panic alarms to be installed in motels/hotels, to allow sex trafficked victims to silently raise an alarm, if needed, similar to a State law recently signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul for victims of mass school shootings to silently raise an alarm if they are under threat. Norwood News had raised this point with the governor’s office and had asked for a comment. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

Established in 2007, the NYS Task Force on Human Trafficking coordinates all the State’s interagency activities regarding human trafficking. It emerged from State legislation lead by local Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) and was enacted to target sex and labor trafficking and to support the victims of these crimes.

 

Under the legislation, NYS Office of Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (ODTA) and NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) began confirming human trafficking referrals from law enforcement so that victims would be eligible for assistance and support services. The task force was reauthorized by the State legislature in 2016. For the first time, agencies other than law enforcement could submit human trafficking referrals to ODTA and DCJS.

 

As a result of this change, State officials said OTDA and DCJS experienced a 150 percent increase in referrals in 2016, and according to a 2019 State report by the task force, referral levels have remained consistent since that time

 

The 2019 report found that between 2007 through 2019, there were 1,654 persons referred to the two agencies as possible victims of human trafficking, with 1,541 of them ultimately confirmed and found eligible to receive services. (There are restrictions around eligibility for non-U.S. citizens for services that are supported by federal dollars.) Of the latter number of eligible candidates, 1,377 were female and 164 were male, 1,149 were adults (18 and older) and 392 were minors (under 18).

 

The report found that of the 1,541 confirmed cases of human trafficking, 1,155 were victims of sex trafficking, 300 were victims of labor trafficking, and 86 were victims of both. In terms of the geographical breakdown of the victims, 698 were from New York City, 352 were from the Metro area, and 491 were from Upstate New York.

 

The report also found that more than half of confirmed victims were from outside of New York City. The “Metro” region includes: Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties.

 

 

On June 28, Norwood News reported that a Bronx man was charged with alleged rape, kidnapping and sex trafficking of a teen. On July 15, 2021, we reported that three Bronx men and a woman were charged with sex trafficking a child. In June 2020, we reported on what one nonprofit said, during a rally held on Fordham Plaza, was the deafening silence in addressing the plague of sex trafficking in the borough.

 

Coincidentally, on the day of the Wakefield incident, State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36), chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, who is currently running for reelection in redrawn District 36, tweeted that bill S3374 had been signed into law. He said the bill would “combat the scourge of human trafficking by requiring establishments serving liquor to post visible signage with contact info for the trafficking hotline.”

 

Since October 2018, all hotels in New York State with at least five rooms are required to post human trafficking “informational cards” throughout each hotel’s premises. The latest law would expand this to include other public places serving liquor. Bailey added, “This is long-overdue and will help save lives.”

 

On June 11, Norwood News reported how a Bronx man who had previously been charged with sex trafficking, rape and attempted strangulation was released on bail. Earlier this week, on Aug. 3, Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell essentially called for a further scaling back of bail reform legislation passed in early 2019, which was refined in April 2022. They said a further review was needed to target repeat dangerous offenders who they said were exploiting the prevailing bail system.

 

In response, The Legal Aid Society of public defenders said, “The numbers don’t lie, and last week, multiple outlets reported on data released by the NYS Office of Court Administration, showing that bail reform has had little impact on recidivism and as an overall driver of crime, despite the repeated attempts by this administration to cherry-pick a handful of cases to misguide New Yorkers and convince them that bail reform is responsible for all of society’s ills.”

 

The public defenders also insisted that Albany reject what they described as the broken record pleas from Adams and Sewell to enact a “dangerousness” provision in the bail statute, saying dangerousness was at best, guesswork, “replete with biases that have only resulted in the caging of more people of color.” They said short of a crystal ball, no judge or human being can predict future behavior.

 

The public defenders concluded, “Condemning more New Yorkers to languish at Rikers Island, a facility mired in crises perpetuated by this administration’s inability and refusal to meaningfully act, is not the answer, and we caution the public from falling prey to this endless fear mongering, devoid of facts and ungrounded in reality.”

 

Norwood News has since followed up with the nonprofit representative we spoke with to inquire about the status of the young teen located at the Wakefield motel on July 23, as well as that of her mom. She replied, “All is well.”

 

To learn 10 facts about child trafficking, watch this 5-minute video by Love146, a nonprofit working to help prevent and address it.

 

If you are, or know, a victim of human trafficking, trained professional help is available from the Bronx District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit. They can be reached at (718) 838-7185.