The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking

Raised $6749

Dear Amanda …..

Garth and I spend a lot of time hanging out on the 16th Street Mall as it’s David’s favorite place to busk. We’ve met numerous interesting people, but my interaction with one young lady will forever stick with me. I don’t remember her name but I’d like to call her Amanda. I have no idea as to Amanda’s age but time on the street had definitely not been kind to her. She was clearly struggling. The two of us sat and listened to David play as she told me bits and pieces of her story. It was a story filled with pain and sorrow. She often alluded to a ‘man’ who was going to make it all right for her. I remember wanting desperately to ask the right question, say the needed thing or make a difference for her in some small way but felt woefully inadequate.

Was Amanda a victim of trafficking? I’ll never know. From what I have learned, much of what she said pointed that direction, and far too many youth in her situation are indeed victims. A homeless teen’s need for food, shelter, and security make them extremely vulnerable to traffickers. Traffickers know the best way to manipulate young runaways into providing commercial sex or labor. The stories survivors tell (a quick search on youtube will verify) are numerous and horrific. The abuse takes it’s toll – on average the typical victim survives only seven (7) years before they die from abuse, STD’s, malnutrition, overdose or suicide.

Unfortunately, youth are not the only victims of human trafficking. It is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world … and takes place right here in our community.

The longest sentence for human trafficking in U.S. history was handed down in Colorado to Brock Franklin just two years ago. Brock, 31, the head of a violent sex ring, was ordered to serve 472 years for his crimes. Five of his six ‘associates’ were also sentenced. In 2013, Kizzy Kalu of Highlands Ranch was convicted on 83 of 89 counts of labor trafficking. He lured foreign nurses to the U.S. with false promises of jobs, then put them to work in nursing homes and elsewhere while pocketing 40% of their pay for himself. He was sentenced in 2014 to 130 months in jail and ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution along with his partner Philip Langerman.

While these traffickers were caught, many perpetrators never face justice. It’s often hard for victims to come forward and equally difficult to get a guilty verdict for those responsible.

Our 2019 beneficiary the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT) was started in 2005 by a small group of dedicated volunteers who wanted to end human trafficking in Colorado. Through research, training and data-based initiatives, they have had a profound impact on bringing this hidden crime into the light.

I’ll probably never have the chance to sit with Amanda again but if I did I’d like to be able to look her in the eye and let her know that I saw her and that she mattered.