Michigan State Police officers Lt. Mike Shaw saved at least three victims of sex trafficking during a much simpler traffic stop.
The MSP stopped a speeding car on 8 Mile near the Detroit-Warren border. The driver, a 15-year-old Jackson County girl who had been reported missing, was later identified as a sex trafficking victim.
“Here’s a girl that’s in a situation that she feels she has to run away from home in the first place and then gets taken advantage of,” Lt. Shaw said. “I couldn’t imagine being a parent to somebody and having to go through that.”
They said that initially, the girl gave fake information when they interviewed her. “As they started talking to her a little more, she provided a false name. She was arrested for not having a license and put into a patrol car,” Shaw said.
Sergeant Nunez, an OSHP translator, and an officer separated the male driver from his passenger and discovered that the girl was 15 years old. The girl explained that she had been forced by the man “to perform acts” on him and that she was a victim of sex trafficking once she was safely away from him. They discovered she had gone missing in New Jersey and that he was planning to take her to Chicago.
She was no longer in custody after police discovered she was a sex trafficking victim, and they dug deeper into the investigation. MSP announced on Wednesday that two more adult victims had been rescued and that a suspect had been apprehended.
According to Aisha Cunningham, the first step to helping to helping sex trafficking victims was to drop the charges. “It’s really about creating an atmosphere where they feel human again,” Cunningham said. She added that those who want to care for the victims should put themselves in the shoes of the victims, “How can I maneuver through looking at myself in the mirror again? How can I maneuver through seeing value not only in myself but other people? How can I maneuver through grace and patience with myself?”
This achievement is one of the many things that we are hoping and praying for. Some courses of actions done to help victims of human trafficking is the posting of different signs in various areas where they may have passed. Some are put in restrooms in gas stations. This is a terrible reality that’s happening in our world today.
When we hear such news, our hearts should be broken and we should pray. For even though we do not have a grand capacity to stop these felons, when our efforts fall short, that’s where God steps in to help.
God is a holy and just God. He will hear our prayers and will bring justice to those who go against His will. We, in turn should continue to pray for those who are in difficult situations like these. We should also advocate the condemnation of sex trafficking rings and for the victims to be saved.